Completion (A Teen Wolf Fan Fiction)
by stormsoul5390
Summary: Taking place after the events of S3-E12, what is going through the mind of the pack, and in particular Mr. Stiles Stilinski, and will Derek come back? Stay tuned. (I do not own Teen Wolf or claim this to be in anyway a reflection of what the creators want, this is my own twist on things and I hope you enjoy, also my first fanfic so be kind, cover art by tehsasu on devianart)
1. Mystic in a Familiar Place

**Completion**

Jennifer, Julia…whatever the hell her name was the Darach was dead, admittedly that fact brought thoughts of dancing midgets singing about her glorious demise to the mind of some of the members of the Pack, okay so mostly just one, a certain brown haired, brown eyed, scrawnier not nearly as hairy on the full moon one. Gerard was locked up inside the Argent's domicile nice and cozy…except for a now nagging fear of what would happen if Scott found out anything else nasty about him and caused him to kill the geriatric sociopath. Speaking of Scott, he was now the resident alpha since Derek apparently sacrificed his powers to heal his sister Cora, as admirable as that was it now left the control of the remaining werewolves in the area to Scott. Whose bright idea was it to trust control of a werewolf pack to a hormonally unstable teenager? Deucalion was out of the picture now as well, disgraced, and practically shoved out of the picture; his own pack wiped out or converted to this new one that Scott was in charge of. Yet it wasn't any of this that was truly weighing as heavily on the mind of the people around Beacon Hills now, especially not for that same scrawny, brown haired kid who was now feeling like he'd been forced to grow up too fast in the course of the passed two years.

When Stiles had heard that Derek was leaving with Cora he was initially relieved, thinking that maybe they were going to just go and get some time away from the madness that was Beacon Hills. But after a few weeks he realized that this wasn't just some temporary situation, Derek had left, and by all appearances he wasn't coming back. He couldn't understand for the life of him why it was causing him to feel the way he was but he found himself missing the other werewolf. Despite their debacles and arguments he'd always had an appreciation for Derek, he'd been there for them more than people cared to mention, he'd sacrificed possibly more than the others could imagine. He'd lost more than what he ever should have at the hands of people he used to trust and whom he should have been able to trust, lost so much for the sake of power. Well now he didn't have the power, but at the same time he didn't have what he'd lost back, only managed to trade it for maintaining the fragile remnants of what remained to him. Stiles had perhaps thought a bit too much about it, but with things being fairly calm since the Darach and Alpha Pack were neutralized he had the extra time. The ADHD didn't hurt either all things considered.

Stiles was also still reeling from the shared near death experience he shared with Scott and Allison which helped lead to the rescue of their parents from the nemeton, and from the sick game Julia tried to play in order to kill Deucalion, a plan that thankfully failed in the long run. That had led to a few admittedly complicated and stressful discussions with his father after he'd gotten back home. If by discussion one meant an overwhelming level of rage at having been kept in the dark being smoothed over by a promise that he wasn't in danger of somehow becoming a midnight snack during the full moon. Needless to say John was upset that his son had lied to him for such a long period of time, but also recognized that when he finally _had_ come forward with the information that he hadn't believed his son for a moment. They eventually got over the initial deception, John realizing it was for his protection anyway and understanding why his son had done so, and Stiles realizing that he could now at least let his dad know about what was really going on with his life. His father was actually astounded by what he'd learned, and even more so at the fact that his son had not only survived all this but helped resolve so much of it.

Everything seemed to be falling back into place, everything going back to how things were before Scott was bitten. He was back to spending more time with his best friend, Allison was off doing whatever she did, Lydia was still untouchable, even more so with her Alpha boyfriend following after her and the fact she was a banshee of all thing, even Danny had his own little piece of the action. Isaac was still the adorable little pup palling around with everyone. Time was taken to mourn for the people who had been lost over all of this, Heather, Erica, Boyd…even Ennis and Kali were mourned despite the things they'd done they'd all realized that they were being used by Deucalion for whatever sick game he'd been playing. Most of the deaths were officially written up as the psychotic machinations of a serial murderer that had been found dead in the woods, seemingly from an animal attack. Despite the presence of the FBI, and in particular Scott's father's best efforts it had yet again been Stiles' father who had cracked the case, it didn't hurt that he was a witness and a near victim either. Another near victim of this conflict was their school adviser and French Teacher Marin Morrell, but Scott had kept his word and kept the Alpha Pack from killing her, she wasn't in classes for the first week after her injury, but she did come back eventually and she proved invaluable with helping the Pack handle the overwhelming issues they were now recovering from.

Yet still despite all of this, though life seemed back on track, Stiles couldn't get over the simple little fact that Derek was in fact gone. He wasn't sure if it was some weird form of Stockholm syndrome or something, maybe he missed being slammed against trees or walls or whatever it was that was solid and vertical that Derek was so apt at knocking him into, but it was the fact that the brooding werewolf who he'd grown so used to having around. Hell, even have him invite himself into his room, without warning Stiles ahead of time. It was like having something there one moment only to have it vanish, disappearing into a fog. But for as long as this calm was lingering over Stiles wasn't as bothered as he likely would have been any other time, though they'd been warned ahead of time that by doing what they'd done to find the nemeton would inevitably draw things in. It did, and when it did they weren't really prepared for what was about to happen, on top of the unexpected appearance of Peter Hale in town. Stiles would have expected him to leave with Derek and Cora, try to rebuild what little, fragile bond they had together as a family again. Something was undoubtedly very wrong and Stiles didn't need to be a werewolf to tell that very soon something was going to bring the quiet, uneasy peace of Beacon Hills to a screeching halt.

"Helloooo, Earth to Stiles, what's going on dude you've been spacing out for the last half hour." Scott's voice rang out as he, Isaac, and the twins Ethan and Aidan along with Danny rested on the bleachers after a rather trying Lacrosse practice.

"Stiles to Earth, I can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message after the beep…beeeeeep." Stiles said as he shook his head and rested it in his hands. "Sorry Scott, I've just had a lot on my mind lately, guess I'm not as used to having as much free time as I seem to have now, you know without having psycho killers out and about and having to chase your ass around town." the teen added as he looked out onto the field, the same field that he'd seen Peter attack Lydia on nearly two years ago. "I'm trying to figure out why Peter didn't follow Derek and Cora to, well, wherever it was they decided to go." he added softly laying his head on his knees as he hiked his legs up slightly.

"I don't know, trust me I don't like it either, he was okay when they were around, I can't say him being around without them makes me feel all that safe. I will say we have the advantage though, I'm an alpha now so he can't control me, Ethan and Aidan are on our side, and we have Isaac, he's not going to be stupid enough to go for all of us is he?" he asked eying Stiles as though he expected some sage answer to pass out over his lips.

"Come after you werewolves? No. But I wouldn't trust him to not come after me, or Danny or Lydia. Hell for all I know he could go after our parents, maybe even Allison again, I still doubt he's happy there are still Argents alive." he added with a heavy sigh. "That or maybe he wants to pick up where Deucalion left off, or hell maybe where Julia left off, I honestly have no clue anymore." he continued rambling before getting up and heading back to the locker room. "I need to get home, I'd rather not have to give any of our new teachers a reason to keep me for detention tomorrow so I'd like to get a start on my homework." Stiles added walking to the school again, the group following along.

Scott had certainly hoped Stiles wouldn't have given him the answer he had, it just left more stress on him to make sure that he could keep everyone safe, Aidan could easily guard Lydia, Ethan had Danny, Isaac could protect Allison, Scott could easily protect his mother, he'd done so before he could do it again. But Stiles…Stiles wouldn't be so easy to protect, neither would Morrell or Deaton if what Stiles said might be accurate. If Peter was planning to kill more Emissaries then they were in trouble and Scott wasn't going to have any of that. Then again if he was going to try and hunt down and kill Deucalion he didn't care overly much about that either. Deucalion was no longer a concern to him, or to the rest of the pack for that matter, he'd lost the bulk of his power fighting the Darach and was now as much a threat to Beacon Hills as the petty criminals Stiles father dealt with on a more regular basis, at least by werewolf standards.

"So what are your plans for after you're done with your homework? I figured we could hang out for a bit like we used to, I could do with some zombie killing if you're in the mood for it." the young Alpha asked Stiles as they got changed and headed out of the locker room and to the parking lot, the pack pretty much dispersing, Lydia waiting rather impatiently for her boy-toy to make his way over to her car.

It was actually fairly amusing to see a big bad alpha werewolf so obviously whipped by a seemingly human person. Maybe it was because one scream would have him curled up on the ground covering his ears, or maybe something else, but either way it was a delight to Stiles, especially considering that before Aidan had turned to their side Stiles had thoughts of torturing him…slowly. This seemed a fitting punishment in the long run. He had also realized by now that the kiss he'd gotten from her was only a device to help snap him out of his panic attack, and so now he was certain that no matter what he did he'd never find himself around the arm of the attractive, strawberry blonde bombshell now driving off in her little car with her big, buff boyfriend.

"Actually I think I'm just going to do some alone time tonight, maybe do some research on the types of things most likely to be attracted to a revived nemeton." Stiles said knowing full well the idea of research would bore the daylights out of the Alpha werewolf and leave him in peace to contemplate all of the disturbing things that would inevitably make their way to Beacon Hills…ha, Beacon Hills, so fitting now that the town was literally a beacon to whatever number of creatures that would be coming to the town because of what they'd had to do in order to save their parents and stop the Darach and Deucalion. "That is unless you're willing to help pull and all-nighter and figure that out." he added sparing Scott a small glance only to see him wince a bit at the idea, that was answer enough for him. "I'll take that look as a no, you realize if you keep giving looks like that I might have to pass the title of sourwolf down to you right?" he asked teasingly and he nudged his best friend's side with his elbow.

"Nah, and deny Derek that eternal right, I couldn't do that to him…by the way, have you gotten word from him at all? Or Cora?" he asked Stiles in turn as they got closer to where Stiles had parked his jeep.

"No, I haven't heard anything since you told me they'd packed up. Weird as it may sound I'm half tempted to ask them how things are going." he replied as he opened the door of his jeep and got behind the wheel. "Anyway, I'm going to be up researching if you want to come over, if not, spend some time with your mom, make sure she knows Creeper McCreeperson is out and about again, hell maybe even tell your dad what's _really _going on around here. Heaven knows it's awkward enough over at your place might as well take care of the inevitable before he somehow gets roped into the issues around here." he added as he started the jeep looking out the window.

Scott just nodded, Stiles had a point, eventually his dad was bound to get roped into things around here, and if Peter was in fact out looking for bait to draw him or the rest of the pack out, his unsuspecting father would be a good target. "I'll think about it, and try not to stay up all night, I wanted to hold a kinda Pack get together tomorrow, maybe go bowling or something." Scott said as Stiles shifted gears.

"Okay, sounds cool, give me a call or something. I don't promise to not stay up all night though, I'd rather we at least be somewhat prepared for whatever decides to pop up at us." Stiles said, receiving yet another nod in reply before he pulled out and headed back home.

The teen pulled into the driveway noticing his father's cruiser was there and allowing a small smile to come over his face. Ever since his dad was taken by Julia he'd learned to appreciate every moment he had with his father, cherishing the chance to have a healthier relationship with him that wasn't full of deceit and tension…okay so at least without any of those pertaining to werewolves or the supernatural goings-on around Beacon Hills. He was still a teenager and what teenager is ever totally honest with their parents?

When he entered the house he was met with the usual, his father in the dining room, files scattered over the surface of the table and a mug of coffee off to the side. It was something he was used to, even before Scott was bitten, hell before that he used to join in on the investigation, helping his father out in finding the patterns, sometimes stating something so blindingly obvious that it hadn't even crossed John's mind.

"Hey there sport." John said as he heard the door close, looking up briefly to see he son kicking off his sneakers and slowly make his way over to the kitchen. "Thoughts for dinner tonight?" he asked as he began sifting through crime scene photos, it had apparently been a basic breaking and entering somewhere downtown, the usual.

"I don't know, subs maybe? Those seem like they'd be a good move." the teen replied as he opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of root beer. "Also it would make sure that you're not clogging your arteries any, that's always a good move." he added sticking his tongue out playfully, his father just chuckling a bit as he shook his head.

"Subway? Or somewhere…" John began before being cut off by his son, sighing heavily as Stiles went on how the other places either deep-fried half of what went into their subs or overloaded them with mayo. "Okay I get it, Subway it is." he huffed out as he got up, closing up the files and putting them back in his briefcase. "But you're coming with me, I don't want you rifling through those folders while I'm gone, knowing you you'd try to find some excuse to investigate it with Scott." John added with a stern raised brow.

"Fair enough." Stiles responded holding his hands up in a sign of surrender. "But I'm going to make sure you get one of those low-fat subs, and no cookies." Stiles said earning himself a groan from his father and a comment along the lines of 'You're going to fat-free me to death'.

They ended up returning home not long after, Stiles with a nice BLT and his father with a veggie wrap with light ranch dressing. John had asked Stiles to join him at the table when they got back but was shocked when Stiles said he'd be eating up in his room while doing his homework. John had expected Stiles to jump in on the case with him to be honest, but then again it was fairly mundane in comparison to the things they'd had dealt with before so he figured the case seemed to boring to his hyperactive son.

Once in his room Stiles placed his sub to one side and his homework to the other, taking steady bites as he filed through each subject one at a time. With Harris gone Chemistry had gotten significantly easier, as well as English now that Ms. Psycho-killer-Darach was gone. History was a bit derailed with their teacher having been killed by Julia, so he'd had to learn to adjust to an entirely new style of teaching half way through the year. He got through things easily enough and finished up his dinner quickly enough, downing the rest of the root beer he'd opened earlier before turning to his computer and beginning the search for some way to determine what big bad beasties would be coming their way now with the nemeton drawing them in.

He started out simple, searching for ways to detect the supernatural or paranormal…okay so maybe that wasn't as simple as he though, but it was a start. Most of what he got were links to paranormal research groups and a few groups like TAPS from Ghost Hunters. Would they end up dealing with ghosts? Stiles decided to bookmark some of the more reliable pages he found, some of them looking like they were made by five year olds which he immediately avoided. However there was one in particular site that came up much later in the evening that really caught his attention.

"Beacon Hills Divination?" Stiles asked himself as he scrolled over the link, it was apparently some local fortune teller who had opened shop here recently. "Heh, well it certainly looks like we're already attracting the weirdos." he added as he clicked the link. He was actually caught off guard as he did so the site was very detailed, went into specifics as to what it did, even had a few disclaimers…looked pretty legit. When he saw the location of where the person had opened shop though his jaw dropped. That was were Derek and the pack had been staying for the passed year, the old loft…he was starting to wonder just how real this Diviner was. He looked for a name somewhere on the site but could find nothing stating who worked or ran the place, bit of a red flag but he overlooked it for the time being. He checked out the hours it was open and saw that he'd have plenty of time to check it out after school some day next week, or maybe even slip out this weekend, it was a Friday after all. "Okay mystery psychic person, maybe you can help us figure out what we're going to be going up against." Stiles said after bookmarking the site and writing the phone number down and saving it in his phone. As soon as he had though he received a phone call, from that very number. He froze a bit as he stared at the number as though his phone was possessed. He clicked the answer button and stammered out a greeting, he vaguely remembered saying something like 'hello' but he wasn't sure if it had come out quite right.

"No need to sound so concerned Mr. Stilinski, I was cleaning out one of the areas around my shop and came across your number on a piece of paper. The prior occupant must have left it behind in his apparent rush to leave. I thought I would make sure to call you and let you know some random person is leaving your number laying around." came a soft voice from the other call. It was male, somewhat older, possibly around the same age as Derek by the sound of him, but there was an unmistakable hint of an accent hidden in there somewhere.

"Oh, um, okay…it's just, I just saw your website, the Beacon Hills Divination one, timing was just a little too…" Stiles began to say before having the words taken out of his mouth.

"Creepy? Yes, I've had that happen before. Timing can mean many things, or it could simply be a complete and total fluke, I never claim to know everything, just some things that perhaps I should not." the man said with a soft chuckle. "I did after all leave the disclaimer of 'nothing I say is set in stone, only paper'." the Diviner said from his end of the call. "I can only assume however that my presence in this location, the fact that your number is here and the fact that you just happened to be looking at my site cannot simply be happy coincidence. Am I to assume you have something you would like to discuss?" he asked, and Stiles swore he could picture an eyebrow rising on the face of what the voice was painting as a young-ish man of eastern European decent.

"Um, well, yeah, I was actually hoping I could come down after school sometime or maybe this weekend, there are a couple things going on around here you should be…" Stile began before being cut off again.

"I am already aware of the werewolves here, and I'm more than aware of the nemeton being agitated, part of the reason I came here, plenty of surplus energy to tap into. As for what your inquiries are you are free to come here now if you wish, I'm still setting things up so it might be nice to have a hand." Mr. Interruption said, his voice awfully compelling.

"Okay, first, can you stop freaking me out any more than you already have, and are you absolutely sure it would be a good idea for me to come over right now? It's….only six o'clock, okay guess I finished my homework faster than I thought." Stiles said as he looked over to his alarm clock.

"Trust me, it will be no problem, besides, I get the feeling you'd like to speak to someone who understands the pain of that lovely dark energy enmeshed with your own." the mystery man said from the other end of the line. "I'll be here Mr. Stilinski." he added before hanging up.

Now Stiles was beginning to freak out a little, this guy could already tell so much about him, more than he was perhaps comfortable with. But at the same time it made him feel as though the idea was one of the better he could make at the moment, he could be honest with this guy, whoever he was. He headed back downstairs slipping back into his Converse sneakers and heading to the door before his father interrupted his little saunter to the front door..

"And where are we going tonight?" he asked from the dinner table, once more covered in files, images and a cup of coffee.

"Heading out to check this new place that opened up in town, some sort of fortune teller or something, call me curious." Stiles said as he turned to face his father.

"Should I be worried about some gypsy putting a curse on you or something? Maybe you should have Scott go with you just in case." John suggested as he looked up at his son.

Stiles actually chuckled as he remembered one of the disclaimers on the site he was on "No dad, I'm fine, the person said that they didn't do curses, hexes, jinxes, or any other manner of unpleasant magic, just divination and cleansing, I'll be fine." he said try to assuage his father's concerns.

John simply looked on skeptically before letting out a heavy sigh. "Okay, but the second something seems wrong, you call me or Scott or someone within shouting distance okay?" the Sheriff asked looking firmly at his son.

"I will dad I promise, just, please, don't stress yourself out over this okay?" he said before heading out the door and driving off.

"If only it were that simple kiddo." John said as he heard Stiles jeep drive off.


	2. Finding Home Again

It was around 7 o'clock by the time he rolled up to what used to be Derek's loft, but what was now apparently the headquarters for their local psychic. It still looked the same as it had before except for a few doodads in the windows and a welcome mat at the front door. "Well that's new." Stiles said as he got out of the jeep and made his way to the door, only to see it open up with a smiling man stepping forward.

The man who greeted Stiles was not at all what he'd been expecting, he was expecting scarves and bracelets and, well he was expecting a Madame Cleo sort of deal, then again he figured since the guy was in fact _not _a madam that his assumptions were a bit unfounded. Instead however he saw a man dressed much like himself, undershirt, plaid button-down left over that along with a pair of what seemed like well worn and comfortable faded jeans. His shoulder length, wavy, brown hair was catching the last rays of sunlight, the subtle red and gold highlights gleaming in his otherwise mahogany hair. He had a nice strip of scruff leading down to a full mustache and beard combo as well which only furthered his rather carefree appearance. He had what looked like a rolled up, tie-dye bandanna holding the hair out of his rather intriguing eyes. One was a light grey, almost silver, the other was more a golden honey color, as if that weren't enough to show that he was definitely not your typical person. He wasn't wearing any socks or anything, instead wearing a simple pair of sandals. If he needed any further cause to feel this was a good idea however it wasn't until he spied the howling wolf pendant around his neck that he approached.

"Welcome to my abode." the easily twenty-something man said opening his arms to the area. "Then again I feel you've been here before Mr. Stilinksi, and if the feelings radiating off of you are any tell then some of your memories here are far from happy ones. There has been blood spilled here though thankfully it was cleaned up properly before I set up shop, and I can say the spirits are at peace at least." he added as he opened the door and ushered Stiles in. The air venting out into the night air was filled with the scents of incense, and likely whatever was left of the man's dinner, something with plenty of herbs by the smell of it, as he stepped in though he realized it may have been the herbs drying on a line that he'd tied between two of the support beams. "Take a seat, I only have a few more things I need to set up and then I can start answering whatever pending questions you might have." he added before going over to drape a few more silk curtains around the place, catching the lighting from the moon now peeking in through the windows and the warm candles and incandescent lighting of the room. A light layer of smoke hovered higher in the air from the sticks of incense burning in small sconces in the corners of the room. The place exuded calm and relaxation; a complete opposite of what it had done a month prior.

"I can barely recognize the place now." Stiles said softly, but not too much to the point where he wouldn't be heard. "I have one question though before we start anything, what's your name? It wasn't listed on the site."

"I do quick work at setting a place to a calm state, otherwise trying to get a clear message from anything is a mess." the man said as he laid out a large cloth on a nearby table, a shelf nearby covered in various things, crystals, pendulums, books, candles and the like. He gestured Stiles over to take a seat at it and offered a warm smile. "My name is Álmos Simon Smucz, you may call me Al, as for why my name is not attached to the website, a name can be used against you, but inside this place, my name holds power only for me." Al said as he straightened his clothes a bit. "Now, give me your hand, I'd like to know a bit more about you before we proceed." the man added extending one of his own.

Stiles hesitantly extended his own and Al immediately smiled and let out a delighted little sound as he took a good look at the lines and subtle curves of each part of his palm. He then looked up into Stiles' eyes, his own were now a very familiar shade of hazel, one that caused Stiles to pull his hand away and cross his arms in front of himself as the thoughts of the other man who knew with those eyes came flooding back. Álmos simply nodded in understanding. "So um…what did you find out?" Stiles asked as he looked at the wolf pendant on Al's chest, refusing to look back into those eyes.

"You have lost people very close to you, your mother, some close friends, all taken before their intended time. You have grown close to a very old pack of wolves, though are more bound to a new one. But what delights me the most is that you have the old blood in you yourself, I'm not surprised that Alan has shown some interest in you." Al replied as his eyes settled back to the gold of silver from before. "Now you have questions, I will do my best to answer them." he continued to say, motioning for Stiles to begin his barrage of inquiries.

"First off, what interest does Alan have in me? How could you know so much about me? Aren't most fortunetellers supposed to me women? What kind of crazy are we going to be dealing with concerning the nemeton and all of that mess? What is Peter up to? Is Derek going to…" Stiles began saying but stopped himself abruptly before finishing that last question, mentally berating himself for slipping up with a total stranger.

"First question, Alan sees promise in you, thinks you'd make for a marvelous Emissary in your own time. Heaven knows he can't live forever, he could try don't get me wrong; druids are sneaky sorts like that. But he feels your potential is untapped and likely feels you're the only sort who can keep people from ripping one another's throats out…with their teeth…and I'm not sure why I worded it quite like that…seems there's some lingering energy here I still need to tend to." Al said raising a brow as he peered about the room. Second question, your energy speaks volumes, and I have always been able to read people like books, some more easily than others, though I must say you're a very good read." Al continued to say with a warm smile. "Third question, yes most in Romani bloodlines are women, however there are the rare few men who possess the gift, would it help if I told you I was a homosexual?" Álmos inquired in turn only to see Stiles fidget a bit in slight embarrassment causing Álmos to chuckle softly. "Fourth question, unfortunately it is difficult for me to tell you what the nemeton will call out to aside from all manner of creatures, some will be benevolent, but because of the violent nature of the deaths around here, expect plenty of the opposite. Fifth question, I have absolutely no clue what the eldest of the Hale pack is planning, only that you have every right to mistrust his motives, guard yourself and watch him like a ghost, for a ghost does not sleep. Even a hawk must do so. As for your final question, I'm afraid that is the one I cannot answer. What I can say is that a person will not return without cause, if you want someone to return, give them a reason to." Álmos said with a fond and consoling look on his face. He then got up and went over to where he had set up a small cooking area, pouring a couple cups of tea and carrying them back over. "Here, drink this, it should help ease your mind for the time being." the Diviner said as he handed over the cup, it smell of mint and honey, and some subtle other things but nothing Stiles didn't recognize. He sipped from the cup and felt the concoction begin to soothe his raw nerves. "There is one more thing I must commend you on, for having died, however briefly, you're handling that darkness well. You will do very well in your future." Al said as he drank from his own cup, draining it slowly until only dregs remained. "Well that's disappointing."

"What is?" Stiles asked as he looked up from his cup and looked over at Álmos wondering what it was that was going on considering the sudden shift in his eye color again. They'd turned a dull, storm cloud grey.

"Well it seems I will have to speak with your Alpha friends." Álmos said showing Stiles the pattern in the dregs of his teacup. "It would seem someone is planning to kill me." he added as the very clear image of a knife appeared at the bottom of his cup.

"Can you tell whom?" Stiles asked panicking a little only to have Al raise a hand to calm him.

"It's no one I recognize, nor anyone familiar with this region. It would seem as though the nemeton has drawn someone in, and quite clearly someone with issues with gypsies." he said with a terse expression on his face. "Let me see yours." Al continued as he reached for Stiles' by now emptied cup. Stiles looked down himself, seeing only a smattering of leaves at the bottom and passed it to the other, however as he saw Álmos turn it he saw the unmistakable outline of a wolf's profile. Álmos saw it as well and smiled, looking up at Stiles and reaching over and taking hold of his hand. "It would seem as though the wolf will come home after all." Álmos said softly before getting up from the seat he was in. "Now, before your father starts worrying, you should head home, I seem to be in need of guarding my home against strigoi for the time being, this will definitely upset business." Álmos sighed as he wearily escorted Stiles to the door.

"Oh, shit, I didn't even think about that…um, how much was this all?" he asked gesturing to the room and the table.

"Free of charge, you gave me your number after all." Al said with a wink and he proceeded to open the door for Stiles as he ushered him out and to his jeep, waiting for him to drive off before turning to face the room again with a dark look on his face as his door closed behind him. "You aren't welcome here szellem." the gypsy said as the energy around him grew charged, a dark plume rising from the floor not far from where he had been sitting earlier.

"You don't have the authority over this place Romani, now kindly drop the guard, it will only make this more difficult for you." The specter slowly materializing said in a deep and gruff voice, though it held some measure of sophistication.

"Menj vissza a pokolba, akkor nem látunk szívesen." Álmos said as the energy around him sparked and a burst of energy shot out at the figure emerging from the darkness, causing it to double over in pain. "You do not know whom you deal with szellem." he added as he began to shift slightly, eyes now a matching ruby as his claws extended and his canines elongated.

"Oh…is puppy angry?" the dark entity asked getting back to his feet as he stared down at the werewolf. "Good, I can feed off of that." It added, black, empty eyes staring into the red in front of him.

"You still don't get it, do you demon?" Álmos said before he had it pinned to the wall lightning spinning around his arm to slam into the demon's throat as he raised it from the ground. "There is a reason I came to this country, here, the storm has more power than you do." he growled out before tearing the throat clear out of the demon. "Send a message back to your master…the Vihar Farkas is going to stick around a bit longer." Álmos added spitting at the ground where the demon's corpse began to slowly dissolve with the smell of sulfur permeating the air. "Gah, now I'm going to need to clean up again." the werewolf said shaking his head as he turned to get the supplies, leaving a lovely line of Hungarian expletives in his wake.

Stiles made his way back home and pulled up in time to see his father heading out to meet him. "Hey sport, I have to head out, break in the case, we think we have the robbers." John said getting into his cruiser. "I'll be back as soon as I can alright?" the older man asked looking out his window.

"Yeah, that's fine dad, you be safe though, no charging in guns blazing okay?" Stiles asked as he headed to the house.

"Sure thing sport, and hey, I'm glad that nothing weird happened, maybe you can bring me down to check the place out another time." John replied softly as pulled out of the driveway and onto the street.

"Maybe, depends on if you behave yourself dad." Stiles said as he went inside, leaving with father chuckling on his way to apprehend someone who was clearly and idiot for knocking over a jeweler. He then made his way upstairs and to his room, landing down on his desk chair and swirling around to face his computer again, looking at the screen still set on Al's website. "I've got to thank that guy sometime." Stiles said as he delved back into research, finding just more of the same, he figured if anything they'd be dealing with even more things from Celtic legend, maybe fae of something along those lines, but with what Al had said he wasn't so sure now. So he elected to just study how to fight against your usual evil nasty critters. He always figured they'd be stuck figuring things as they went, as always, but he was hoping they could get some sort of heads up. But no, fate was still intent on making them miserable. However he was told that Deaton was interested in perhaps helping Stiles gain some footing of his own, if he could get some druid knowledge, enough to at least help protect everyone more than he could right now that would help. He made a point to go with Scott to the clinic to see what Deaton could tell him, maybe teach him a few more things about any plants that might help ward things off, or if there were things that might be too powerful for them to drive off.

Then his mind went back to the wolf image in his teacup, the entire time he'd been there he hadn't been able to get Derek out of his mind, and it made itself known in two separate ways, once with the dregs of his tea, and then another with his line of questions. But Al had helped alleviate some of his worries, had said that Derek would come back if given a reason, and then with the teacup had pretty much said that he would come home. Then again, what was home for Derek Hale? The house he'd grown up in was trashed, the train depot he'd crashed in was a nightmare, and the loft he had was now occupied by a gypsy who seemed to have a soft spot for scrawny teenagers who had more stress to deal with than some adults. Then out of nowhere something his mother used to say all the time began to filter into his mind.

_"Home is where people are thinking of you, not in manners that would harm, but those fond moments that cause them to yearn for you. For you see yearning is something that comes from the heart. So that saying 'home is where the heart is'? Not that far off the mark." _Claudia's words rang in her son's ears and it just made him think even harder about the sourwolf, hoping he was okay, and perhaps selfishly hoping he would come home to the people who were thinking about him. Hoping he'd come home to him. At that thought though he immediately snapped out of that loop of thought and began wondering what the hell it was that he was thinking.

"The hell was I thinking?" he said quietly to himself, now starting to freak out a little bit. Why was he thinking Derek would be home with him? Was he really thinking of Derek like, well, _that_? He really wasn't sure if he could deal with this, it was freaking him out, he should not be thinking of being close to Derek, holding him, "Oh my god brain stop it, evil, evil brain." Stiles said gripping his somewhat longer hair as he laid his head on the cool surface of his desk trying to calm himself down. "Deep breaths Stiles, deep breaths." he kept saying, like a mantra to himself. He eventually calmed down enough to start reassessing those thoughts, thoughts of Derek coming back, thoughts of him stepping up to him and risking bodily harm by pulling him into the hug he'd been wanting to give him ever since he'd learned what had happened to his family, wanted to give him again after the ordeal with Peter, then again after this last mess. The most he'd been able to do was comfort him as a friend, but more and more Stiles was beginning to realize there was a deeper connection that he felt to Derek.

Stiles was no stranger to loss, he more than most of the people in his merry band of miscreants understood genuine loss, understood what it was to have someone torn away from you. Isaac as well, and maybe Allison, but in Stiles mind Isaac had the one up on Allison. The young huntress had lost a psychotic mother and a psychotic aunt to a psychotic Alpha werewolf and an Alpha werewolf trying to protect his Pack, not necessarily in that order, damn when was the last time he'd taken his Adderall? It had been a few days, things hadn't been as crazy, and he hadn't been as addled. Ha, addled, Adderall. Gods, he needed to go take one now before he started really losing control. He got back onto his feet and made his way to the bathroom, opening the cupboard and pulling out the bottle for his Adderall, taking one and then chasing it with a few handfuls of water, splashing some on his face for good measure before looking back into the mirror. "Okay Stiles, get a grip, you just want to hug the guy, not make out with…DAMNIT!" Stiles shouted as he slapped himself across the face, now he was picturing himself making out with Derek, and what was worse…he wasn't hating it nearly as much as he likely would have been a year or so ago. With a sigh of surrender he made his way back to his room and just crashed down on his bed, head buried in a pillow as he groaned in frustration. What was going on with him? Seriously? First he couldn't stand the bastard, then he felt sorry for him, then he started relating to him, then he started feeling like Derek was like this big older brother figure to everyone. An older, more muscular, more damaged, and damn those muscles looked good. "Okay that's it, I'm not allowing myself to think for the rest of the night, I'm just going to go to bed and not think about how much I miss him and how much I wish I could just hear from him again." Stiles said as he sagged into himself a little. There, he'd said it, he missed Derek Hale, Mr. Tall-Hot and Grumpy…and there he went again.

It was only then that he heard movement in his room, and immediately he made to grab for the metal bat he'd grabbed when he helped save everyone stuck in the root cellar. The movement stopped and he heard a very familiar scoff of a laugh. He was really starting to hate his mind right now, because at this point he was sure he must have been hallucinating. Or at least he thought as much until he heard a voice calling over to him from the corner of his room.

"I may not be an Alpha anymore, but I still don't think you're fast enough to nail me with that thing." Derek said smirking a little bit as he saw Stiles whirl around to face him, eyes wide and peering up at him from where he was sitting on his bed. "So who is it exactly you were missing?" he added just standing there smugly with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I might just have to swing this at your head anyway." Stiles said gripping the bat, and despite the fact that his face looked like he was about five minutes from a ripping the werewolf a new one his eyes totally betrayed him. He almost looked like he was on the verge of tears as he tossed the bat aside, got out of his bed and made his way over to Derek. "Why didn't you say anything?" Stiles asked looking up at him, his eyes firm as though demanding an answer.

"I asked you a question first, who do you miss?" Derek asked again, not moving, his own cool hazel eyes locking onto the warm brown of Stiles' own.

"I'd lie and say I missed the sunny disposition of your ever charming uncle, but considering Scott and everyone else have caught him filtering around here still I don't see as there are any other people I would be referring to by a male pronoun other than you." Stiles said, still as defiant as ever in front of the werewolf. "I've missed you Derek, okay? You've been a pretty big part of everyone's lives and then you just up and left without a word. It's like finding out someone you grew up with just up and moved away and you never got the chance to say goodbye." Stiles said still locking eyes with Derek, blinking back the moisture building in his eyes.

"I didn't realize I was that important to everyone." Derek said, his face growing a bit more serious. He then realized he had yet to answer Stiles question and he took a deep breath. "I guess that's why I left without a word, I didn't want people trying to keep me from leaving, keep me from trying to get my head on straight and give me and Cora time to breathe after all this…well to put it bluntly, shit hit the fan." Derek added, "I didn't want people trying to following me or trying to pull me back." the werewolf said arms tightening across his chest.

"Didn't quite work out I take it." Stiles said, it should have been a question, but he realized he'd hit the nail on the head when Derek's eyes fell to the floor.

"I couldn't stop feeling like all I was doing was running away again. Felt like I was abandoning something here." Derek said as he let his arms fall, hands finding his pockets and balling up inside them.

"Don't forget the fact that you kept saying how much you missed Stiles." came another voice as Cora walked into the room. "I mean god, how many times can you mention him?" she asked as she strode in with a bottle of root beer.

"Quite easily when I'm saying I'd rather listen to him ranting at me than you." Derek said letting his eyes close as he took a deep breath. "But she is right, don't ask me why but I missed you, missed all of you don't get me wrong, but I kept missing you more." Derek said as he stepped closer to the teen.

"I'll see you two later, I'm going to go check in on Scott, see if he and his mother would be willing to put up with me for a few nights." Cora said downing the rest of the root beer and letting a slight belch out. "Also cudos on the root beer choice, hard to find good stuff nowadays." she added before dropping out the window and heading off to the McCall house.

That left Stiles alone with the tall, brooding mass that was Derek Hale, standing within an arm's reach of him. Stiles looked over to him he was still looking at the floor, still keeping his fingers in his pockets as he stood there facing Stiles, shoulder's tensed up as though he was waiting to be hit or something. Stiles walked in closer and without a word and wrapped his arms around the brute, not for a second caring if Derek flipped out and threw him against the wall. It wasn't until he heard the first shuddering sigh that he realized why Derek had gotten so tense. He was fighting back something that had been coming for a long time now, and as he felt Derek's arms wrap around him he brought one of his hands up to stroke up and down his back as Derek silently wept into his shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay Derek, it's okay." Stiles said as he held Derek and just let him get it all out, this was the pain of the fire, of Paige, of Kate, Laura, Peter, Jennifer/Julia, Boyd, Erica, of everyone he had lost. He'd been running from their ghosts and now they'd finally caught up to him. "I'm still here." Stiles added gently into Derek's ear as he just kept consoling Derek in his arms.

Those last three words hit a lot harder than either of them had really expected, more than either of them had ever thought they could. Derek pulled back, his eyes still wet from tears, which he promptly wiped away. "Yes, yes you are," Derek said a bit waveringly as he continued his embrace of the younger, thinner man in his arms, "and you have no idea how thankful I am that you still are."

**For those of you not familiar with Hungarian the text you are likely very confused by can be translated by Google or Bing. That is all.**


	3. Claws from the Shadows

Stiles wasn't sure for how long he'd been standing there looking into Derek's eyes but he seemed to feel like it hadn't been long enough when Derek finally stepped back from the embrace. Stiles was content though, he'd finally gotten that damn hug in, victory to the sidekick. He moved his way over to his bed and patted beside him as he made some room for Derek to join him. He was glad when the larger man had done so, smiling and going so far as to nudge his elbow into the werewolf's gaining one of Derek's patented 'Really?' look.

"So…I kinda knew you were coming back." Stiles said as he kicked his legs idly off the side of his bed. "You see since you left we found out that I'm not human, I'm this incredible oracle…thing." Stiles said, trying to break the silence, knowing full well Derek would catch him in the lie.

"So the fact that you smell like you just came back from some gypsy caravan has nothing to do with the fact that you knew I was coming back." Derek asked sniffing the air around Stiles. The teenager still smelled like incense and tea, and there was one other scent, but it was muddled, it was like a werewolf's but it was like that wolf had a storm cloud over his head. "You also smell like a wolf." Derek added, eyebrows meshing together. "Who was the person in the loft?" he asked as he picked up on the subtler hints of rust and old building.

"He's some sort of divination expert, gypsy, kinda reminded me of you, hell his eyes even changed to your color while I was there, said his name was Álmos or something. He seemed like a cool enough guy…and why are your eyes going all wolfy on me here Derek?" he asked inching away from the steadily wolfing out man beside him. "Derek? What's wrong?" he asked firmly as Derek's blue eyes bored into the floor in front of him.

"You said he was a gypsy? There's only one gypsy werewolf that's ever been around this territory and he was here when the tree at the nemeton was still alive, before it was cut down. His name wasn't Álmos though, it was Farkas." Derek said firmly as he looked into the ground. "He was actually responsible for the tree being cut down, he'd murdered someone there and what I heard snapped the tree in half. It wasn't safe for people to be around it anymore so the state cut it down…" he added before looking over to Stiles. "How old was this Álmos guy?"

"He was around your age, but you said this other guy's name was Farkas?" Stiles asked as his heart began to drop a bit into his stomach.

"Farkas Smucz." Derek replied firmly as thought the name was poison on his lips. "He murdered his own wife, she was pregnant." Derek said firmly his claws extending as he stood there, trying to contain his rage. "He was a disgrace to the wolves of this region."

"Derek, Al's last name was Smucz…I think Al might be that guy's son." he said as he moved another inch away from Derek afraid to be too close to those claws should Derek snap.

"His son?" Derek said, blue fading to hazel and claws slowly shrinking back. "But, his wife died while he was…" and then realization struck. "He was kept alive by the nemeton, it kept him alive when it died." Derek said before bolting up again from the bed and he began pacing. "Well that means one of two things, either he's going to be just as psychotic as his father, or he's going to need our help." Derek said as he headed to the window.

"He did say he needed to meet my Alpha friends, and if he'd been psychotic I'm fairly certain he would have killed me while I was at the loft, alone, and without anything to ward off a, well I guess the best way to put it is gypsy-wolf? Is that even possible?" Stiles asked the still visibly confused wolf.

"Yeah, it is, rare as hell but his father was one, guess it makes sense his son would have survived, Simon's father tried to do the same to his mother. It's the only way to gain both sides abilities without issue, the wolf and the magical. In this guy's case he got the magical more than likely from the nemeton. Probably why he's back, because the nemeton was woken up." Derek said as he leaned his hands on the windowsill and took a deep breath of the air outside. "He didn't hurt you? He didn't do anything try to mess with you?" Derek asked a little more concern showing in his tone now as he looked Stiles over.

"Aside from some tea, no, and trust me, there wasn't anything funny with it, dad actually had me go through a training procedure to detect what odors certain drugs will make, and there weren't any unusual hints anywhere." Stiles said, even exhaling a bit more sharply so Derek could check for himself, and Stiles had to suppress as laugh when he did. Derek seemed a bit more reassured when he checked for things himself and could not, even with his enhanced scent detection note anything troubling.

"Good, I'm hoping he took after Maria then, I'd hate to think my last remaining cousin would be yet another family member I've lost." Derek said, a very shocked Stiles jumping up from the bed and nearly falling over himself.

"Wait he's your _cousin_!?" Stiles rasped out as he moved over to the window to try and regain Derek's attention.

"Yes, if he is in fact Farkas' son, then he is my cousin. Maria Hale-Smucz was married to the bastard, it was supposed to be this power couple scenario but then he turned on her and then the rest of his pack tore him to pieces, called him a strigoi for murdering his own wife while she was still with child." Derek said as he looked firmly into the woods behind Stiles' house. "He's also likely an Alpha himself…did anything happen while you were there? Anything outside the usual?" he asked turning to face Stiles.

"He read some tea leaves, there was a knife in his, he said someone who wasn't from this region was coming for him, as in 'Hi, we've come to ram this wolfsbane treated knife into your kidneys a few dozen times' coming for him." Stiles stammered out as he looked into the intensely focused eyes of the werewolf in front of him. "Something about something that really wouldn't like gypsies." Stiles added trying to recall everything that had happened in that moment at the redecorated loft.

"Knives are mostly human weapons, and the only groups that would actively want to kill gypsies are either hunters with issues, militant religious groups…or Nazis, but none of the above would risk going after someone if they knew that they were not only a gypsy, but a werewolf." Derek said as he slid down to the floor, resting his head in his palms. "Gods, can't Beacon Hills stop being its namesake for one year? Just one?" he asked out the window, only getting the sound of crickets in reply. The irony was not missed by Stiles who ended up laughing at the chorus of nocturnal insects.

"You mentioned something about strigoi, Al mentioned something about having to set up some more things to guard against them, any clue what?" Stiles asked as he pulled his chair around to sit in looking at Derek now that they were actually talking about more than him wanting to rip his throat out with his teeth.

"Yeah, strigoi are evil spirits or creatures that go after the innocent and either kill, corrupt, or possess. It's an umbrella term really for most of your usual evil, nasty creatures that like to make life miserable." Derek replied, and Stiles could barely believe that Derek was using the same general term for what he'd been researching earlier. The amused look on his face vanished when Derek looked up at his with a scowl.

"Sorry, but that's what I was calling the things we were likely to encounter because of the nemeton being all, well, beacon-y. Evil, nasty critters is what I was thinking though." Stiles said in his defense, trying to keep the mood from getting too serious. "You said his father was called one though, so is it possible there could be a bunch coming? What would make it easy for them to corrupt or possess someone?" Stiles asked as he looked a bit more intently at Derek, he was actually formulating one way in his mind already, hoping that he'd be wrong.

"Well, people who have come close to death, or have had death affect them in some major way are usually easier to influence, there's already a darkness in that person that they can latch onto and feed off of, gives them strength and allows them to rip the person apart from the inside. It will leave them empty and will allow the strigoi to completely control the empty shell."

"So basically demonic possession." Stiles said, but Derek wasn't quite done yet.

"Not quite, strigoi are usually the souls of the dead, wrongfully killed or just warped and twisted." Derek replied looking up at Stiles. "Basically picture Peter back when he bit Scott, but already dead." he added as the fact that his uncle was in fact mucking about town like he owned it apparently came to mind.

"Well that's all well and good, but now the trick is how do we, you know, _not_, end up as tasty demon food. I know they aren't demons but to make it easier for me humor me, please." Stiles said holding a hand out.

Derek shook his head and chuckled. "Okay, well the only way to keep something like that from latching on, is to either somehow heal that wound in your soul, or make it so that wound can't be used against you." Derek said simply. "It's like the concept of an anchor, having something that holds you in place so you can always stay in control. It's usually harder for a werewolf to get possessed since we already know most of the tricks around dealing with control work, likewise for druids since they need to learn to control the powers they have or they risk becoming a Darach, and don't even think of bringing her up Stiles." Derek said holding his hand up this time.

Stile made a motion like he was zipping his lips but then undid it. "But for humans it's more difficult right?" he asked, Derek simply nodded and Stiles let out a sigh. "Well I guess it's a good thing Al told me Deaton wanted to train me to be an Emissary, that's a plus for me, seems our only issue will be dealing with Allison." Stiles added slumping in his chair a bit.

"Well the good news is a strigoi who possesses a human won't usually be able to enhance their abilities, they'll end up using the abilities they had in life." Derek said as he got up and reached for the windowsill again. "I think I've chatted about this plenty enough for one night though, I should go look for a new place, or something." Derek added as he swung a leg over, getting ready to head off again.

"Do you have to leave right now?" Stiles asked. "Can't it wait until tomorrow? Hell maybe you could move back into the loft, if Al's your cousin maybe he'd be more than happy to have some family of his own back in his life." Stiles suggested, Derek looked down and thought about it but Stiles wasn't content with contemplation. "Derek, I would like it if you'd stay tonight." he said reaching out and placing his hand on Derek's shoulder, he could feel Derek jump just a little at the touch, but then felt him immediately relax, and lean into it, it seemed he'd wanted the contact as much as Stiles had, and that made Stiles one very happy human.

"Okay, I'll stay, but you're coming with me to Al's tomorrow, just in case he does pull something." Derek said as he made his way over to the large beanbag chair on the other side of Stiles' bed, plopping down and getting comfortable, going to far as to take his leather jacket off and leave it to one side, sneakers discarded to the other. "You should get to bed Stiles." he added motioning to the clock on his bedside table which read 2 AM.

"Heh, yeah, I guess that might be a good idea, so um, you going to give me some privacy while I change? Right, nevermind." Stiles said at seeing Derek raise a skeptical brow, shutting his eyes as he let Stiles do his thing. Stiles proceeded to strip down tossing his shirt and undershirt into a laundry basket at the foot of his bed, followed by his jeans and socks before he went into his drawers and pulled out a pair of basketball shorts he'd bought for nights like this, when it was too warm for flannel, but not warm enough for just his blue little boxer briefs. Pulling them up he tied them in place to avoid having them fall off his lithe form and then he crawled under the sheets. "Alright, sleep tight sourwolf…I'm really glad you came back." he said sleepily as he began to fade off, leaving Derek a soft smile as he felt his eyes close and his mind finally quiet enough for him to sleep.

Derek smiled back once Stiles' eyes were shut. "Well, I couldn't just leave home behind." he said softly to himself, resisting the urge to place a chaste kiss on Stiles' forehead and climb in beside him. "I couldn't leave you behind." the werewolf said even more gently before he began to drift off lost in the younger man's scent, the gentle mix of warm sugar, spice, and that not so subtle hint of incense and tea still clinging to him from his encounter with Al. However in this place, surrounded by the scent of the younger individual, Derek found a measure of peace and also slipped off into a gentle slumber.

To say Scott was shocked when he saw Cora Hale show up on his doorstep would be an understatement, however as she pushed her way into the house he started to freak out a little. Having a werewolf that definitely wasn't in his pack just traipsing about his and his mother's home with his still supernatural ignorant father around had potentially hazardous to the tenuous balance of the household.

"Um, excuse me, is there something I can help you with?" Scott said a bit more firmly than perhaps he should have, but it got the young woman's attention. "I thought you and Derek were gone." Scott added taking up a firm enough stance, one that was perhaps a bit too much like Derek for Cora's liking.

"Oh, I'm sorry big bad Alpha McCall, did I have to get your permission to pay a visit?" she asked with her usual amount of sass. "And drop the crossed arm look, you're starting to look like Derek, and trust me the world is only big enough for _one_ brooding werewolf at a time." she sighed out as she plopped onto the couch and looked up at the new Alpha. "I'm staying for a bit, until Derek can find a place to have us stay…again." Cora said with a tone of finality.

"I _thought_ you two were leaving." Scott said maintaining his, what he had come to equate to an authoritative pose, one he'd seen Derek every single time. "As in not coming back." the Alpha added firmly.

"Yeah, so did I, but it seems Derek couldn't stay away, then again what's this we heard about Peter skulking about town?" Cora asked rather pointedly, causing Scott to tense up a little. "Maybe you could have shared that information with us? You knew he was supposed to be meeting up with us; we figured he had some last minute stuff to handle but the way Stiles brought him up it seems he's up to his usual conniving." the young beta said with a scowl on his face. "And just when I was about to like the bastard again."

"Yeah well he hasn't exactly been the kind of person to inspire trust." Scott said, his tone biting as his eyes flashed crimson briefly before he let out a disgruntled sigh. "I'm going to take it Derek is with Stiles tonight then?" he asked rubbing his forehead.

"Yeah, don't' ask me why, all he used to do was complain about him, but it seems that Stiles missed the grump just as much as Derek missed him." Cora replied with a shrug as he sprawled out on the couch. At the moment Scott's mother came in through the front door.

"Hey Scott, just got home, and I'm…why is Cora here?" she asked as he got over to living room. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I thought they had left." Melissa added as Cora gave a gentle wave.

"Oh trust me, I'm just as confused as the both of you, I wouldn't be here if Derek hadn't dragged us back, again, I blame Stiles." Cora replied as she settled down on the couch, letting her eyes shut.

"Um, okay, what does Stiles have to do with you guys coming back?" Melissa asked as she strolled over to the chair she usually frequented in the morning for her usual cup of coffee.

"Pfft, your guess is as good as mine Ms. McCall, all I know is one minute Derek and I are driving as far away from here as we can get, heading out back east, and then he starts talking about how much he misses Stiles, just, out of nowhere. Okay, yes he was taking in his sleep, but still." Cora said as simply as possible.

Melissa simply smiled gently before leaning back in the chair. "You kids can really be something." she said with a chuckle. "Stiles was doing the same thing the last time he was over here, You remember Scott, you two were up all night killing zombies, or something, he ended up passing out down here and ended up waking you up because he wouldn't stop talking in his sleep." Melissa said as she kept chuckling softly. "Wouldn't have pegged those two for caring about each other that much, but it's pretty obvious they do. Home is where people are thinking fondly of you." she added getting up and heading to the kitchen. "You kids want some ice cream or something while I'm out here?" she called back to the living room. Both affirmed their desire for something to keep them from dwelling too much on what Scott's mother may have been eluding too. It was bad enough that Stiles had been doing plenty of over thinking for himself, Cora certainly didn't want to think of what her brother may be thinking, nor did Scott want to try delving into Stiles' mind, more out of fear of getting lost than finding something he didn't want to find.

Sheriff Stilinski ended up coming back not long after his son and Derek had managed to go to bed, heading to his son's room to let him know that for once there was a crime in Beacon Hills that wasn't tied to some cult or supernatural creature looking for revenge. When he opened the door however and saw a familiar man sitting, asleep, in the large beanbag chair next to his son's bed. His son was snoring up a storm and he was surprised the other man hadn't been woken up by the cacophony; then again maybe he spoke too soon. He watched as the other woke up and looked over at Stiles, saw his eyes flash blue for a moment before softening as he got up and gently shifted Stiles on the bed until his head was resting in a manner to stifle the snoring. He had a practiced hand, almost as though he'd already had to do this a few times already, and truthfully he likely had if the bags under his eyes meant anything. But the gentle attention he paid to Stiles eased the Sheriff's initial concerns. Once Derek had finished rolling Stiles back onto his side, he looked up at John with a weary smile.

Right now likely wasn't the best time for a heart to heart with Stiles' father, but Derek figured he'd have better luck getting this over with now than waiting for him to wake Stiles up and start grilling his son.

"Hello Sheriff, I'm going to take a wild guess and say you'd like to ask me a few questions." Derek said tiredly to which John gave a knowing nod. Derek nodded in turn and rubbing his face followed the older gentleman out of Stiles room and down the stairs to the kitchen.

"So, is there any reason in particular that you're in my son's room?" John asked as he poured a cup of coffee, he figured this was going to be a long night.

"Would you believe me if I said it was all his fault?" Derek said leaning against the counter, suppressing a yawn.

"Honestly? I could at this rate, but I get the feeling there's more to it than that." John said as he took the first sip of coffee. "So give me the full truth of this." the Sheriff Stilinski said gesturing between the ceiling under Stiles' room and Derek. Well at least Derek knew where Stiles got his flair for gesticulation.

"Well there's the thing, I'm not totally sure myself." Derek said in total honesty. "I know that after a while I just felt like I was leaving something important behind, once I did I started driving back when all of a sudden, and I don't know when, I started realizing just how badly I missed everyone. I missed Stiles the most, despite the fact that he had me arrested and annoyed me to no end." Derek continued saying, not quite sure how he could even begin to explain what was going on in his head right now. "At the same time though he's been there for me, he became someone I could rely on and trust when I had no one there for me." he added with a sigh. "He's become important to me and I guess I just couldn't leave that behind, couldn't just run away from it." Derek said, leaving the floor to John to speak.

"So, what you're saying is that my seventeen year old son is your best friend and one of the only people you've been able to trust since you came back here?" John asked with a raised brow.

"I don't want you to read too much into this, I'm trying not to do the same, but friend doesn't sound like it's strong enough word to use for him." Derek said, and despite his claim of not thinking too much on it he couldn't hold back thinking more on it. He wanted to be there for Stiles like Stiles had been there for him all those times before.

"So you have actual feelings for my son then." John said as he went to sit down. "Because you do understand that's how this sounds right? I mean, I don't mean to jump to conclusions, but do you think you could be falling for him? You realize he's still underage right?" John asked only getting a cold look from Derek in return, but the look faltered as Derek's mind began betraying him once again.

Thoughts began to swirl, that night at the clinic, the pool incident, the myriad of times he'd had Stiles pinned against something, the attempts to drive him off and scare him away for his own safety. But then came the thoughts of Stiles confronting him, fighting back and standing up to Derek when any sane human should have simply gotten as far away as he could. He'd been lying to protect Derek, had been putting himself at risk. Sure Scott was surely the true reason why he was protecting everyone, though at the same time why did he have to protect Scott? Scott was already in good with the Argents, good with the John, he'd never done anything to draw the hatred Derek would evoke simply by being in a room. Stiles was the one person who never backed down, the one who had always been there for him and supported him, and who had never stabbed him in the back or taken advantage of him. Okay so there was that one time with Danny, but that wasn't intentional.

"I…I think I might." Derek said his face growing hard as he stared at the ground; he knew what was likely to happen now. He was likely going to be forcibly ejected from the home, maybe at gunpoint. He was shocked when John just chuckled.

"Doesn't seem like anything normal will happen around here." the older man said as he left to go relax in the living room, before he left the kitchen though he looked back at Derek. "Listen, if it turns out he feels the same, great, but do me a favor and actually talk to him and don't just let it build up. The last thing I need is a stressed out werewolf in town. I know you're not a bad guy, Stiles has talked about you enough lately that I know that much. I don't hate you, I just don't want you or my son getting hurt if there's more to this." John concluded before going off to finish his coffee.

It would appear as though Derek had a lot of explaining to do tomorrow morning, however as he even thought about how to start he heard Stiles' snores once again carrying down from his room. "Better go flip Sleeping Beauty again." the werewolf said with a grumble, but at the same time he couldn't keep the smirk off his face.


	4. What's Normal?

The next day when Scott's father woke up and headed out to sit on the couch before heading in to the sheriff's office he got a full view of a passed out Cora Hale on it. About to ask what was going on Melissa walked over, handed him a cup of coffee and placated the FBI agent by informing him that her name was Cora Hale and she was one of Scott's friends from around town. That seemed to put him at ease but still left him without a seat for the moment. Melissa once again fixed that issue escorting him to the kitchen to take a seat at the table with her.

"So when did she get here exactly?" the investigator asked as he sat down still looking out the doorway toward the living room.

"She got here last night, she and her brother came back from a trip they were on out east, some family bonding trip or something." Melissa said figuring it was likely fairly accurate, however Cora could hear the clear deceit in Melissa's statement. She wondered if that had been one of the issues that caused the man to leave to begin with, but then realized if that had been the case he would have taken Scott with him. Nope, the father was likely the one to blame this time, and with a job with the FBI, it made sense. All that time away would have taken a serious toll on the relationship.

"Well, where do they live? Don't they have a place they could crash instead of on our couch? Where's her brother?" he asked as began grilling his ex-wife.

"Listen Howard I am not a suspect in some criminal act, and we aren't in an interrogation room." Melissa said firmly as he got up from her seat. "Cora stayed here last night and her brother decided to stay with Stiles. They're close and after family bonding I can certainly explain wanting some space. They live with their uncle, and he's still out of town, left his place locked up, bit of a nutty guy. Now can you please drop it, I'm not harboring and fugitives or crack addicts in my house, I have enough of them going through the hospital each day to keep myself busy."

Howard looked down at his coffee and spun it around a little before taking another sip. "Sorry, guess old habits die hard." he said with a sullen look on his face. "Bad enough I come back out of the blue but I instantly start treating everyone like a suspect. Even my own son." he said murmured in self-pity.

"Oh wow, you did not just make this all about you." Melissa said as she got up from the table. "You've _always_ been investigator of the year, I can't remember one day that didn't feel like some sort of interrogation." she added leaning against the counter with her own cup of coffee. "You're telling me it was a fluke that you just _happened_ to be the one sent to help investigate the murders around here? Come on." Melissa said with her disbelief etched into every word.

"No, you're right I did choose the assignment, I was the one mot familiar with the town, the people." Howard replied as he began drinking from his cup again.

"Really? Mr. Disappears for however many years and before that took any case he could outside of town knows it best?" Melissa started before letting out a withering sigh. "What are you really doing here Howard? What do you want?" she asked as she peered directly at the man in the room with her.

"I wanted to spend the last year my son had of high school trying to make sure he didn't forget about me, okay?" Howard said weakly as he folded his hands around the mug. "I don't want to be some bad memory that he just keeps shoved aside. I want to make up for the time I wasted being away." he added gently, his voice barely over a whisper. At least he'd realized he'd messed up, or at least he seemed to. This seemed a decent enough answer for Melissa as her face finally relaxed and she rejoined the man at the table.

"Just don't vanish again like you did before, I don't want you to end up making both of us regret this." Melissa said as she fought to keep Howard's line of sight. "Do you understand?" she asked almost as though she was talking to her son instead of her ex-husband. He nodded and was about to speak before Cora entered the kitchen with a yawn.

"Oh, hey there Ms. McCall, thanks for letting me crash here last night, had enough of my brother the last two weeks to last a few years, the space was appreciated." she said carrying on without a step missed from Melissa's conversation. "Hey there, you must be Scott's dad, can't say I've heard much about you, sorry." she added inwardly taking some enjoyment at seeing the stung look on the man's face. "I was heading out to go find Derek and try to get back to our uncle's place, hopefully we'll be able to figure out a way for get a hold of our uncle and make sure we can get a spare key to is place." she said sounding like the typical annoyed teenager. The act was convincing enough to make Howard duck down a little in his seat, a silent 'sorry' being exchanged between him and Melissa.

"It was my pleasure Cora, you go find your brother, I'm sure he and Stiles must be up by now." Melissa said going over and giving Cora a small hug. "Feel free to come over any time once you settle things with your uncle okay?" she added getting a nod from the young woman before she left and headed off to the sheriff's residence.

Stiles woke up to find himself on his side, which would have been otherwise perfectly reasonable were it not for the arm wrapped around him and practically holding him in place. Turning his head to peer over his shoulder he saw a very much still clothed Derek Hale holding him, fast asleep. As he shifted further though Derek groggily opened his eyes and looked up at Stiles with a tried expression.

"Um, morning there sourwolf." Stiles said with an awkward little chuckle as he lifted Derek's arm off of himself and set it down beside the surly looking werewolf. "I'm guessing that was the only way to get me to stop snoring?" he asked, not really wanting to know if there was an ulterior motive, at least not quite yet. Getting up to find Derek holding him had been one thing, but he was fairly certain he'd end up fainting if he found out Derek had done it simply for the sake of holding him.

"There is that, yeah. But your father also found me in the beanbag chair last night, he and I had a nice talk…you and I need to talk too." Derek said trying to get to business as soon as possible, the sooner this was handled the better.

"Okay, I'm sorry this is sounding way too serious a discussion to have without something in my stomach…can we at least wait until after breakfast please?" Stiles pleaded before Derek could go any further. Derek's eyes had been locked on his the entire time and he nodded reluctantly before getting up and stretching, an ungodly amount of snapping and popping sounds resounding around the room. "Oh my god, okay after breakfast I don't care what you say I'm giving you a back massage, that sounded way too painful." Stiles added as he moved over and grabbed a shirt and slipped it on before heading downstairs to find eggs and bacon cooking as well as a few waffles in the toaster.

"Figured I'd make something for you two, hope it works." John said shrugging before heading out the door; he was set to meet up with Scott's father to finalize the paperwork concerning the case he'd been called in on. "I'll be back later you two, just, please, try not to kill one another." he said before he closed the door behind him.

'_I hardly think being killed is something I have to worry about here._" Stiles thought to himself as he began serving things up on two plates for himself and Derek. Once seated he took a moment to mentally prepare for the impending discussion he'd be having with Derek, without even really knowing what it was about. "So should we call Isaac and the twins and throw some sort of coming home party?" he said in an attempt to break the silence that had fallen once his father left.

Derek simple raised a brow in reply before shaking his head with that far from familiar smirk on his face. "Can't handle a few minutes of silence, well I'm glad that you haven't changed in the short time I've been gone." Derek said with a note of warmth in his voice.

"Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Derek Hale?" Stiles asked looking Derek over. "First you come here saying how much you've missed me, now your smirking and sounding all warm and cozy. Seriously, where's that towering mass of grump I'm used to?" Stiles asked, mostly joking, but he was wondering if for once Derek was finally allowing himself the luxury of letting go. He'd practically soaked his shirt last night when he cried into it, in a way Stiles was hoping that was the first step toward Derek finally confiding in someone,

The solemn look he got in return was one he was hoping to avoid but it wasn't the grim, surly, 'rawr' one he usually got. "I'm sorry." was all Derek said as he began digging into his breakfast, eating perhaps more slowly than was ordinary..

"Hey, no, hey don't be sorry for it, I'm…I just haven't seen you open up to anyone, I was trying to joke around." Stiles said reaching over and taking one of Derek's hands in his own and squeezing it gently. "Trust me I'm glad to see this brighter side of you, still have a few clouds hanging around you, but those will go away eventually right?" he added softly.

Derek looked from the hand Stiles was holding up into his warm face, seeing his rich, brown eyes looking into his cold, hard hazel. "Maybe, you probably understand more than most the level of damage I have." Derek said as he gently moved his hand to hold Stiles' in turn. "I mean Cora has sorta helped me reconnect with who I used to be, but it's going to take a long time before I'm even so much as scarred." the werewolf said still slowly eating.

"Yeah, but you'll get there, and if I have to be your personal life coach so be it, I'll get a whistle like Finstock and blow it whenever you try to say anything just like him." Stiles said at which he got a death glare from Derek. All he did was smile though and take a bite out of his bacon. "See, there we go, motivation." Stiles said with a wide smirk.

"You're evil you know that?" Derek said flatly, shaking his head as he continued to eat the contents of his plate.

"Says you and Danny, then again Danny just calls me a terrible person, and I'll say the same to you as I did him, it keeps me up at night, so can we just agree that you need someone around to keep you from giving up on yourself already?" Stiles said, not even realizing what he had just suggested until the moment after. "Well, I mean, maybe someone else, not me, I don't know maybe me. Gods I need to stop talking." he said faceplanting into the table as he moved his plate out of the way.

"Stiles, the day you stop talking is the day the world stops moving and the sun explodes okay? I think even your ghost will be talking long after to die, just to spite everyone." Derek said with a chuckle. Now mopping up syrup with his waffle.

Stiles simply smiled at the comment and nodded his head. "Yeah sounds about right, I can picture it 'Damn you alien kids get off what used to be my lawn!'" Stiles said in his best elderly man impression, garnering another chuckle from Derek. "That of course depends on if aliens take over the world or if we suffer from a zombie apocalypse." Stiles added with a small shrug.

"Finish up eating Stiles." Derek said with a bemused shake of his head before getting up and washing his clean plate, Stiles following suit a few minutes later. Derek then walked over to the living room, taking a deep breath before settling down on the couch.

"Okay, so I guess this is talk time, so, let's talk." Stiles said as he plopped down beside Derek, giving him space and letting his legs swing a few times as he waited to hear whatever Derek had to say. Stiles was prepared for the worst, that way when he heard it he'd be able to cope faster, he had not expected what next came out of Derek's lips to come out of them.

"You mean a lot to me Stiles, probably more than anyone has since, well you know about Paige, I know Peter mentioned her, so let's use her as an example." Derek said, and now he was nervous, he hadn't been this nervous since he was a child, and it was messing with him. However as he looked over to Stiles he realized he'd stunned the teen into silence. '_Here comes the zombie apocalypse._' the werewolf thought before he continued. "You've been there for me when pretty much everyone else had given up on me. You never genuinely lied to me, and you've risked you life more times than I care to mention. You're only human and yet you've done more than half the packs that have come into town. You're brilliant, you're spastic, and you have done nothing but make me realize just what a wonderful pain in the ass you are. You've fought me every step of the way and you haven't been afraid to point out when not only _I_ have been an ass, but every time anyone has done something to screw up. You take responsibility for what you do; you don't try pinning it on someone else. Stiles I don't think you realize just how incredible a person you are and I guess what I'm trying to say is I simply admire you." Derek said, not realizing he'd been staring into Stiles' eyes the entire time. "And I think that's the most I've ever said in one sitting." he added as his cheeks flushed a bit and he turned away to catch his breath.

Another thing Derek hadn't noticed was Stiles' increasingly shocked face as Derek poured his heart out to him. He couldn't read anything other than pure disbelief at what Derek said, and that right there stung more than he had realized it would. His eyes fell to the ground and he began to get up from the couch, giving Stiles some space to think things over.

"Derek wait, I'm sorry for being so quiet, I'm less shocked at what you said and more at the amount you said, seriously this is like the _longest_ conversation we've ever had." Stiles said clambering up and grabbing Derek's wrist before he could get too far. Derek looked down at his wrist and froze, shoulders hiking a bit as he tensed up. "Derek I know how much you care about me, you wouldn't have put up with me this long if you didn't, and you sure as hell wouldn't be here now." Stiles said as he turned Derek around and looked him in those eyes that kept making him soften, eyes that began to get closer and closer before closing, but not before lips were pushed to lips.

Derek froze entirely, eyes bugging out as he felt Stiles' lips touch his own, his heart started beating frantically as he tried to figure out what he should do, pull away? Keep staying still? Or give in? In the long run the latter proved its course as his body relaxed, shoulders dropping as his arms moved around to hold Stiles close, head tilting to seal his lips more firmly to Stiles' own. His eyes now shut, his lips taking in the softness of the younger man's, his stubble no doubt scratchy against Stiles' bare face. He felt Stiles' arms snake around, one resting on his lower back, the other snaking up to play with the shorter hair on the back of his head. Right now Derek swore he was stuck in the dream he'd had the night before, this moment almost identical to the one he'd had play out in his slumber. There was one striking difference however, but that was something he was trying to fight back.

After a moment Stiles pulled back, taking a deep breath, eyes still shut as he leaned his head in against the werewolf's chest. "You realize I've been wanting to do that since you came back last night right?" Stiles asked as he finally gazed back up with those maple-brown orbs into the cool, though seemingly softer, slate grey of Derek's.

"Just like how I wanted to hold you in bed last night, I acted on it. Keeping you from snoring was just a bonus." Derek said with an honest smile on his face as he pulled Stiles tighter to himself. "I think it's obvious how I feel about you then?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't have to come out and say it. Admittedly he still didn't have a word for it, he couldn't say it was love, not yet, it was still too new, and he'd been quick to mistake infatuation for love before. Except once, Paige was different, that had been real. Kate had been adolescent lust, and Jennifer…she had been desperation. Stiles however? The only thing he could call it was feeling like he was home again.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure if I can place it quite, yet, but I know this much, I'm more than happy to learn where it's going." Stiles said warmly as he leaned in and began to kiss Derek once again, interrupted suddenly by the ultimate buzz kill.

"Oh gods, couldn't you two wait until after we got things settled today to start making out? Gross. Gods bro isn't he a bit young to be hanging on you like that?" Cora's voice said, ringing across the living room. If Stiles had thought he'd seen Derek angry before, this was a new level of it as he stormed over to his sister and picked her up by the back of her shirt and stared her in the eyes.

"Next time…KNOCK!" he growled out at her and her face went pale before flushing in anger as well.

"Like you've ever knocked, who died and made you Alpha again?" Cora retorted as he tried to grab Derek's hand and pry it off her jacket.

"Derek? Dude, she's just being the typical nosy little sister, come on relax, please." Stiles said as he stepped around and placed his hand on Derek's arm, slowly lowering it. "Thank you." the much thinner man replied before looking at Cora with a smirk on his face. "As for you I'm sorry if kissing your brother weirds you out, but get used to is sis." he added sticking his tongue out before leaving a short peck on Derek's lips, resulting in a petulant shout from the young female werewolf.

"You two suck, just saying." she said rolling her eyes. "Now can we discuss…" she began saying before looking at Stiles as though asking him to give them some privacy. Stiles shrugged and began heading off before getting grabbed by Derek and pulled beside him. "Fine, I guess he's part of our plan to break into Peter's then?" she asked crossing her arms and quirking a brow at Derek.

"No, he's going to help us get into our cousin's place and our old place." Derek said firmly, glaring down at his sister.

"Whoa, hold up, cousin? What cousin?" Cora asked as she locked her eyes down to Stiles' "Start talking nerd boy or I start shaking you." Cora added as she took a step closer only to back away when Derek growled. "Jeez, overprotective much?" she asked before setting her gaze back on Stiles again. "Fess up already, who is this guy?"

"His name is Álmos Simon Smucz, he opened a fortuneteller spot at the loft, and someone left my number there." Stiles said as he peered over his shoulder at Derek who made a point of avoiding eye contact. "Don't worry, seems like it was serendipitous, turns out he's a decent guy, and if Derek's right he might need some family around himself." Stiles said as he filled Cora in, only to get the same sort of glare Derek had given the floor last night.

"He's Farkas' kid? Are you fucking kidding me!?" she screamed looking at Derek. "Are you fucking mental? He could probably kill us if we show up." Cora said as he shoved Derek, the taller man not giving much ground, but still stumbling.

"Cora, please, we don't have many options and I sure as hell don't trust Peter. Let's give it a shot, he didn't hurt Stiles or do anything to mess with him. Besides, he never even knew Farkas, he was only a baby when his father was killed. There's still some chance we'll be okay, besides, with the two of us and Stiles we should be okay." Derek said as he stared down his sister.

"And what is he supposed to do?" Cora replied jerking her head toward Stiles, genuinely wanting to hear what his brother thought the puny human could do.

"Um, excuse me, still in the room, I can hear you." Stiles said waving his hands in front of him, still ignored by Cora. Feeling arms wrap around him though he turned his sight over to Derek as he looked down at him.

"He'll think faster than we can." Derek said as his eyes snapped up to lock on his sister's. "He' a lot smarter than most of the wolves around here, and I'm not about to show up looking like I'm going to rip his throat out. If he isn't friendly to us the last thing we need is to be on his turf and hostile in turn."

Cora just looked at him like she wanted to rip his face off, but eventually calmed down; realizing she didn't have any real choice, Derek had his mind set on the matter and Stiles backed him. "I really hate being the younger sibling." she grumbled before turning around and heading out the door. "I'll assume we're going to go then?" she asked looking over her shoulder, her tone impatient.

"Lemme go grab some actual pants." Stiles said with a groan of his own, he was definitely _not_ enjoying Cora's attitude. He rushed upstairs, grabbed a pair of jeans and pulled them on, brushing his teeth and hair and taking care of business before coming downstairs. "Okay we can…" he said looking out into the empty hallway, Derek wasn't there either which caused Stiles heat to drop a little before he heard the engine of the Camaro growl outside. '_Note to self, drag the werewolf with you next time.' _ Stile thought before hopping into the back seat of the Camaro, not daring to encroach any further into Cora's comfort zone, or risk her biting his head off…literally.

"So, family reunion time right?" he asked trying to ease the obvious tension as they began to drive away. "Okay forget that tactic, let me use this one. Wolves are meant to trust there instincts right? Well I know I'm only human, but I'm trusting mine on this one, I think it'll pay off." he added firmly, and he saw Derek's smile in the rear view mirror. _'Awesome, so confident Stiles makes Derek happy, I'm going to have to start writing this stuff down._' he said inside his head as he gave Cora a smug little smirk.

"Derek may not have any interest in tearing your throat out anymore," she began saying before turning to face Stiles, eyes glowing amber, "but don't push your luck with me." she added as he snapped at him.

Yep, things were certainly starting to go back to normal for Stiles, the threats, the crazy, now all he needed was to hear the unnecessary details of Scott's sex life and he'd be set. However he seriously doubted he'd be hearing anything on that front for a while.


	5. Different Fronts

They pulled up to the loft about half an hour later only to see Álmos charging out of the building his hair smoking slightly. He stalled slightly as he saw the two wolves and the sole human of out of the Camaro and walked their way over to him. "Mr. Stilinski, good to see you again, my apologies for the current state of my appearance, had one rather unpleasant spirit in there, bit messy at the moment, kinda smelly." he said bashfully before moving to one side of the area outside the main door. He began to pull off his shirt and pants, immediately tossing them into a barrel and throwing in a match, setting them ablaze.

"Damn strigoi and their filth." Al added spitting on the flames. "That's the second outfit in three days." the werewolf said before going into another list of words that Stiles was fairly certain he could live without knowing the translation for.

"You did take care of the issue though right?" Stiles said being the first to step toward the man now nearly naked in front of them, wearing only a pair of boxers that rested on his hips in an appropriate manner. He was starting to see the family resemblance even more now, Álmos was built much like Derek, but despite his appearance Stiles still preferred the brooding wolf behind him.

"Pfft, of course I took care of it, throat ripped out, all the fun stuff, terrible smell though afterward. It's like a rotten egg inside an unwashed public toilet." Álmos said as he began spraying himself with heavy amounts of body spray, trying in vain to cover the stench. "KURVA ANYÁD! This is never going to come out." the werewolf whined as he tried scrubbing the stench off of himself.

"Would tomato paste work?" Cora asked rolling her eyes at the joke of a man she saw in front of her. Al merely gave her an appraising look before going back to the scrubbing. "Or you can ignore me, great cousin you are." Cora added before stalking back to the car and slamming the door behind her.

"Cousin?" Álmos stated as he stopped his scrubbing, looking between Cora and Derek before looking over to Stiles. "Cousin?" he repeated to the younger human among the wolves.

"Álmos Smucz, meet Derek and Cora Hale…they're your cousins, well, so long as Maria Hale was your mother." Stiles said as he gestured to Derek and the moody teenager back in the Camaro.

"Maria Smucz was my mother…but I think she was a Hale at some point…so wait…I am not the only werewolf of the family then." Álmos said as he looked over Derek a bit more closely. He had the same vague facial structure, the same build, it was conceivable, but he wasn't entirely sure. "Name my father to me and I will know that what you say is true."

"I'd rather not mention that sick bastard's name if that's okay by you." Derek said as his arms crossed in front of him. This only got a laugh from Álmos as he resumed his scrubbing.

"Then it is true, well I wish we had been meeting under different circumstances, the smell of sulfur is a hard one to remove." Álmos said as he began rubbing his skin raw. "I may have to try the tomato paste idea if this does not work." the other older man said as his scrubbing looked to be growing painful.

"There's a river not far from here, you could go bathe in it, I have some body wash and shampoo in the car." Derek said as he gestured to the trunk.

Álmos sighed in relief. "That would be most generous Derek, I will meet you there…hopefully you will also have a towel or something." the now apparently shameless Romani said as he pulled off his boxers causing Stiles and Derek to immediately go red in the face and turn around. The sound of snapping bones behind them made it fairly clear of what had happened and as they turned they saw a brown wolf standing where Al had been, his boxers in his mouth. He then dashed off to where he could hear some running water from the nearby river.

"Well, he's certainly an interesting character." Cora said as the still somewhat mortified duo of Stiles and Derek re-entered the vehicle. "So we're going to go follow the rather overly comfortable, possibly homicidal maniac to the river?" she asked as she folded her arms in front of her.

"Yes we are, he was decent enough to not kill us on site, and I'm fairly certain getting naked in front of us shows that he's not overly worried about us hurting him." Derek said as they drove to the nearby river, coming out a few minutes later and heading down to where the now boxer clad man was still trying to scrub the stink out of his skin. Derek moved over tossing over the shampoo and body wash he had, mint flavored, no wonder Stiles had liked holding him as long as he had.

"Many thanks cousin." Al said as he caught them and began rubbing the mint scented goop over every surface he could reach, and at his touch it almost looked as though it were seeping into his skin, and as time wore on it proved to be the case, he was absorbing the material as though trying swap out that scent for the scent trapped in his skin. The same thing happened with his hair as he worked the shampoo into the long, wavy locks. His skin began to grow a bit pale not long after that though as he moved to the other side of the river, clear of the others and began spewing out copious amounts of viscous, dark fluid, no smell of its own but undoubtedly the essence of the filth that had soaked into him. He extended a hand and flame burst from it to burn the mess on the ground, purging it clean from the earth. When he made it back to where Derek and the rest were he was looking a bit better, and his heterochromatic eyes were back to their vibrant selves. "Well then, once the loft clears out we should be good to move you back in…I can only assume that is why you were coming." Al said with a pleasant smile.

"It was, yes." Derek said as he brought a towel over to his cousin who took it happily, quickly drying his exposed skin in the brisk morning air. "I really hope you don't mind." he added as he watched his cousin drape the towel over his shoulders and begin walking back toward the loft.

"Me? Mind? I do not think that will be a problem, though I wonder if you can handle living in that place after the history you have there and with the over abundance of scents in there from my herbs, incense, cooking…" Al began to list off.

"Did I hear something about cooking?" Cora asked as she stepped out of the car. "I'm sorry Derek but if I'm forced to have fast food one more time I'm going to barf, what do you cook?" Cora asked looking Al over.

"Oh the usual, chicken, pork, goulash, cabbage rolls, beef, the occasional first born child left as a sacrifice on my doorstep." Al replied with no lack of sarcasm on the last one. "Don't think I couldn't sense the disdain you held for me back at the loft, but no, I cook what your average person cooks, now come, we'll head back, fix something nice and then help you all settle back in." the werewolf said warmly as he began walking calmly back to the loft, slowly shifting back into his wolf state, towel draped over his back as the group made their way back together.

Once there they found the door open and a copious amount of fog pouring out, all scented with sage and lavender, mint and lemon. It smelled like every known cleaning product known to man was being used to spray the place down, and they weren't far off. As the walked up to the main room they saw Al spraying down everything in sight and then waving his hand causing it to suddenly boil off of the surface.

"Miserable nasty bastards, I really do need to figure out how they keep sneaking through my defenses…must be while I sleep." Álmos said as he walked around with the towel around his waist, clearly thinking of what possible reasons there were for any kind of spirit lingering here. "Or it could be the ghosts here are just _that_ angry."

"Likely the latter, one of the people who died here died one very angry Alpha." Stiles said as he thought back to how Lydia had told him what happened to Kali here. "Ended up shredded a bit by a Darach."

"Not a fun way to go, and also that would explain why the spirit kept trying to go for my neck…" Álmos said rubbing the very spot gently. "Oh well, things happen, I'll have too maintain a good supply of sage and lavender." Al said with a shrug. "Now, clothes, where are my clothes." he added as he went to one side of the room behind a small divider and exclaimed in triumph, coming back around in a nice comfy looking tunic and some baggy trousers. "Well, welcome my family, I hope that with you around I won't be having too many further visitors from the realm of the dead. I could do with a break from that." the gypsy wolf said rubbing his forehead as he passed by a scorch mark on the wall. "They are murder on the décor, literally." Al added before taking a seat on a beanbag chair set up were their war table used to be.

"I don't know how you did it Al, but you made this place look like you can actually live here, looks like you can learn a few things Derek." Cora said as she leaned against another beanbag chair up on the raised area near Álmos.

The elder wolf simply rolled his eyes and looked over to Stiles who simply smiled and took his hand. The pair moved over and joined the others as they began discussing how living arrangements would work here.

Ever since Derek had left Isaac had taken to staying with the Argents, Chris and Allison had proven to be more than welcoming especially after the events that unfolded the month prior. Apparently helping to save not only Allison's life but his own had made Chris' opinion on werewolves change a fair bit. He would have stayed with Scott, but with his father in town and the whole him being Alpha now Isaac thought it would be best to give that volatile location some space.

"Isaac, Isaac get up your phone won't stop going off." Allison said with a yawn as she walked over to the couch and pushed the phone into Isaac's hand, knowing he must have been awake. His hearing was better than hers and he knew for a fact that e must have been as aggravated as her.

The young beta turned around and grumbled something incoherent as he looked over the texts only to suddenly be in danger of his eyes popping out of his head. "He's back." Isaac said before jumping up. "Derek's back!" he shouted before pulling on a shirt and his sneakers and bolting out of the apartment and made his way toward Scott's place at top speed, expecting to find Derek's car pulled in front of it. When he didn't the shiny black of Derek's Camaro his heart dropped a bit. Scott was waiting on the porch though and walked over to Isaac and pulled him into a hug.

"I know you were hoping to see him, but I'm afraid he was at Stiles, Cora's with them right now so I figured we'd both go and see them, I messaged Aiden and Ethan as well, they're coming too. Maybe I can find out for myself why Derek is really back." Scott said, still suspicious of the older werewolf.

"Can you stow the paranoia long enough to be happy that Derek's back?" Isaac asked. "Yeah he's screwed up, but so has everyone else. Stop thinking he's out for blood, if he were do you honestly think he'd have let Deucalion live?" he asked taking a firm stance in front of the Alpha. "He realized what happens when al you grab at is power…he learned a harsh lesson and I'm hoping you learned from it too." Isaac said, his words hitting their mark and causing Scott to break eye contact. "Now let's go, maybe we can…" Isaac said before feeling his phone go off again. "Heh, seems Stiles figured we'd all want to meet up anyway, looks like we're going to the loft." the beta said with a smirk as he turned around and began making he way to the other side of town, that was before the twins pulled up on their bikes.

"So Derek's in town?" Ethan asked as he looked at the pair, holding a helmet out to Isaac as he approached. Scott merely shrugged in response, the gesture pretty much saying 'I guess'. "Right, you just tell us where to go then, let's figure out what's going on here." the more docile of the dynamic pair said as Isaac climbed on behind him.

"Back to the loft I guess, that's where Stiles said they were, something about a family reunion, I don't know, I just hope Peter isn't there, I don't like him." Isaac said putting on the helmet.

"No one likes him." Aiden replied bluntly as he saw Scott heading to his little dirt bike. "No way in hell are you riding that thing with our bikes, you're going to ride behind me and you'll like it." Aiden said holding out a helmet to Scott. Scott merely glared at Aiden but didn't get far, they were both still Alphas, sure Scott was a true Alpha, but he was new to it. He eventually caved with a typical teenage groan and hopped on behind Aiden as they revved their bikes and took off for probably one of the last places they thought they'd ever go back to.

Stiles was sitting next to Derek still idly holding hands with him, occasionally running his fingers over the back of it, he'd sent a message to Isaac saying that Derek was indeed back and they were hanging out at the loft with Cora and another of Derek's relations. He hadn't received anything in return and so assumed Isaac was still passed out or on his way. That or Isaac was playing the risky game of seducing Allison Argent which would either get him killed by Chris, killed by Allison, or most likely killed by Scott who though they were waning, still had feelings for the girl.

"It's been a long time since I've had the company of blood relatives, the Smucz pack declined, rather horribly. The whole people hating gypsies mixing with people hating werewolves…it's just a messy business to begin with. I had heard the Hale pack was trying to rebuild, but I'm sad to see that it was less on blood and more on bite." Álmos said, his eyes downcast, sensing the offense taken by Derek and Cora he immediately snapped his eyes back up. "Oh, please, do not get me wrong, I am not saying it was not okay, I was just hoping there would be more alive from the pack." Al added sadly.

"So do we." Derek said in kind, gently squeezing Stiles' hand in his own as he thought to all the people they'd lost. "Peter is still around."

"Bah, don't mention Peter, he's almost as bad as my father, and now he is risen from the grave. He has broken enough of Mother Nature's laws; he is lucky I'm not hunting him like he hunted Laura." the gypsy wolf said before his attention went to the door. "Were you expecting friends?" he asked as the sound of two motorcycles sounded outside.

"No…but I recognize those bikes." Derek said before looking over at Stiles. "You didn't happen to tell anyone we were back did you?" he asked as he looked at the brunette beside him.

"I only told Isaac, and I'm sure Scott found out courtesy of Cora here." Stiles said gesturing to Derek's sister who just gave him one of those 'Yeah your point is?' looks.

"Which means Scott contacted the twins…I was really hoping to go a couple of days without seeing the entire pack." Derek replied rubbing his forehead his free hand.

"Pack? There is another pack in Beacon Hills?" Al asked looking between the three gathered up on his little lounge area. "The last time there were two packs here it got messy…I really do use that word too much don't I?" he asked as he realized he'd used the word messy more times than any other thus far. "Eh, it is a fitting word." Al said shrugging. "But who is this other pack?"

"Peter turned Scott, Scott is a true Alpha, then my former beta Isaac and two members of Deucalion's Alpha Pack, Ethan and Aiden." Derek filled Álmos in as the sliding door opened and in walked the four werewolves all looking a bit confused by what was in front of them. Álmos got up and slowly walked forward eyes turning their usual ruby as he took his place as the Alpha of the house as it were.

"It would have been more appropriate and been following better etiquette if you had knocked before entering another's home without permission." the gypsy wolf said as he looked down in a stern expression at the younger Alphas and the beta. "I see there are some things you have yet to learn." Al added raising a hand to his weary face. "He clearly did nothing to prepare this one to become and Alpha." Al added looking back to Derek who simply raised a hand as though to say 'Not my fault.'

"He didn't exactly realize he'd be turning Scott into an Alpha when he bit him." Derek said as he lowered his hand. "He was convinced that Scott would be a happy obedient beta." Derek said with a shrug.

"Are we talking about Peter?" Scott asked as he stood there looking between someone who was clearly an Alpha and the three people mustered over in a cozy little lounge nook.

"Not the brightest one is he?" Al asked still looking to Derek. At that almost everyone in the room chuckled at just how blunt and just how obvious it was that this guy _had_ to be related to Derek.

"I'm still here." Scott said his mouth tight as he glared up at the taller Alpha. "And forgive me for not being aware of what you guys were talking about before I came in." he added his own red eyes gleaming in agitation.

"Oh, how cute, the baby Alpha is angry. Calm down Mr. McCall, you may be an Alpha, but so am I, and I have been one for far longer than you. I have the knowledge, the experience, and the added bonus," Al said before raising his hand, energy swirling around it as he looked calmly down at the younger Alpha, "of gypsy magic, so relax, or I will be forced to _make_ you do so."

Scott looked to the hand sheathed in what almost appeared to be small arcs of lightning and took a step back; the other three wolves stepped forward though in defense of the other Alpha. All of them ended up stepping back again as Stiles got up and walked over between the both of them.

"Okay, I'm sorry but I know I'm not the only one here happy that Derek is back, I know I'm not the only one who thinks Scott needs to put his big boy pants on and be nice, and I know I'm not the only one who thinks enough blood has been inside this building to last a good hundred years or more." Stiles began ranting as he looked between the two sides of this equation. "Al, please go back to you family, Scott, snap out of it and stop acting like someone has invaded your personal space, I'm fairly certain the only time that has happened has been with either Derek, Peter, Allison…_Lydia_." the hyperactive teen said pulling on that old wound to knock Scott down a couple of pegs. "So stop drop the big bad werewolf act." Stiles concluded before heaving a heavy sigh. "Now, where were we Al before the company arrived?" he asked turning back to where the older Alpha had gone, resuming his seat in front of Derek and Cora.

To say Álmos didn't find Stiles' manner of defusing the situation not only effective, but amusing would be a lie, he actually applauded the man as he stood between a bunch of savage beasts and not only kept his calm but managed to talk the lot of them down. "I can see now cousin why you like this one." he said gleefully as he gestured to Stiles who blushed a little bit before rejoining the group and taking Derek's hand again. "A human who not only isn't at all afraid of wolves, but can keep them from killing one another. He's the perfect anchor for a pack."

"What do you mean by that?" Scott asked as he slowly moved forward with the other three wolves.

"It's simple really, he reminds you all of your humanity, he isn't afraid and so he won't pose as a target, he will keep the wolves within you restrained even when they would otherwise rip him apart. He shows understanding, compassion, and he's not afraid to give a low blow in the hopes it will bring even a great Alpha down for the betterment of the pack. He is a balance point, you are very lucky to have him around here." Álmos said with a small nod. "Now, since we are now all at least mostly acquainted with one another please, join us, there is plenty of space." Al added gesturing to the remaining beanbags.

Isaac was the first to comply dragging on over to rest in front of Stiles and Derek, laying back more so as not to seem in the way, looking backwards and upside down toward the pair and smiling. Derek reached forward and gently clasped his shoulder with a smile in turn, it seemed that Isaac had missed him too. Scott pulled up beside Stiles and the twins moved in behind him. Stiles simply sighed at the stance those three had taken, they still seemed to want to keep this 'us versus them' situation going.

"So who are you? You keep calling Derek your cousin, but all of his family is practically dead." Scott said, the lack of sensitivity garnering him a collective scowl from the other wolves in the room, even the twins. That was a low blow, even to them.

"Would it help you to know that I _should_ be dead? My father killed my mother while I was still in her womb; the only thing that saved me was the last breath of life from the nebeton before it was cut down." Álmos said as his eyes went to the dull, stormy grey Stiles had seen before. "I was born into another pack aside from the Hale's. As such our Wolf Moon was spent not here, but back where our family came from in Hungary." Álmos added as he locked his eyes to Scott's own. "You still have much to learn young Alpha. But I Álmos Simon Smucz, last member and last Alpha of the Smucz line will do all that I can to help with that."

At finding out that Álmos was indeed the last of his pack and family Scott tensed up a bit more, feeling like the genuine jerk that he had been. "How, I mean, why are you the last one left?" Scott asked a bit sheepishly.

"Ah yes, how does the Vihar Farkas stand alone? Now that is a tale, and if you would all like to hear it, feel free to linger here a while, I'll go fix some food for everyone." the werewolf said as he stood up and walked over to the range he'd set up.


	6. Good Food, Good Stories, Good Company

The group now sat gathered in a bit of a circle candles mustered in the center of the room as the curtains were drawn on the windows, shadows cast by the drapery about the modest dwelling. They all had a nice healthy serving of very well seasoned goulash, all of them full, even the werewolves. Then again considering it was a werewolf cooking no one was terribly surprised. But now the area held the level of mystery one normally only received on summer nights in their teens when they were still old enough to go to summer camp. It was ghost story time, or maybe just a history lesson, though it was certainly going to be interesting to learn why Al was now the last of his pack.

The older Alpha came back over with one last candle; illuminating the area just enough to have everyone feel comfortable with the shadows flickering in the corners of the room. He then took a seat to one side of the circle facing everyone as he began to go into his story.

"So, by now you can tell that I am of Romani descent, or gypsy for those of you unfamiliar with the prior term. You can also tell that I am a werewolf. Now you may ask how is it possible to be both, and here is where my tale begins." Álmos began. "You see the decline of my family's line started with my grandfather István Ambrus Smucz. One night in the turn of the century my grandfather crossed a comely maid, a girl of some repute in the village he and his caravan had come to rest at, to sell their wares and gather what supplies they could before they went forth again. He was happy thought to leave such a pleasing figure to be wasted there, and so he took her, in more ways than one. In time she began to show her condition, and proud though my grandfather was he would not allow some mortal creature carry a child born of his line, and so the night she went into labor…he killed her, took her by her neck and crushed it. Like myself however she had been killed on a sacred location, once held by Greeks, and Romans, and Celts, and the Norse. Her blood seeped into the earth and fed it and as such her sacrifice was my father's redemption. He was labeled a strigoi by his pack and cast out on pain of death. He was not content in this to be certain. István was not Alpha, but he had made pacts of his own with other packs in the region, packs that would gladly rip a Romani pack to pieces. And so they tried, but my family had already begun to flee Europe, run from out ancestral homes. It was not because of István, but because, well, Adolf Hitler was a psychotic man who was more dangerous than even the Argents." Al said getting plenty of cringes from the people around him at the thought that many werewolves may have in fact been killed during World War II.

Álmos took a deep breath before going on. "So it was that my father was smuggled out of Europe, he was not yet Alpha by then, his own grandfather was still alive and led them out to America. But my father, he had the magic in him from the land he had been born on, but it had left him a wound on the world, born of a corpse and sired by a murderer. So needless to say he made an ideal target for strigoi to go for, one in particular.

István had known his son had survived, and also knew his son would become Alpha if not him, but being outcast he could not claim that power. He was caught; he was killed in the furnaces of Auschwitz. But his spirit did not stay there, it made its way across to America, feeding off the misery of the people who left after the war, fleeing the hell of the past. He grew strong on the suffering. By the time he reached my father, he had become Alpha, my great-grandfather, bless his soul, died early on after the move, my father had to take over. However he was as vulnerable and compromised as they could get, he had been told of his upbringing and had felt ashamed of himself, felt he should have died, not been a blemish to the pack. He met a beautiful woman in his own time, a Maria Hale, she was a powerful wolf in her own right and they hit it off. However, at about the same time in her pregnancy my grandfather's spirit latched onto my father, and he killed Maria in the same manner. Along with this strigoi had arrived a rival Romani clan, and while my father was split to pieces and burned to naught but ash, this new clan steadily began killing the rest of my pack. The last of that clan died by my hands, just as I became the final Alpha of my pack." Álmos said, remembering clearly the feel of that witches last breath leaving her lungs. "That day they had killed the last Smucz, my nephew." Al went on to say, anger mixing with grief in his eyes, a swirl of venomous green blending with an electric blue. "I too hold the power of my gypsy blood in tandem with my wolf. But unlike my father I know I must live to see my grandfather's spirit purged from this earth, and still I feel it lingering. Waiting for me to drop my guard, waiting for me to grow weak enough to fall to his darkness." the gypsy wolf said as the candle flickered violently, almost threatening to be blown out, but they remained firm. "Hmmm, a lesson we all could learn." Al said pointing to the flames. "Even when the wind blows, even when darkness surrounds us, if we can hold firm, if we can keep close to that which we draw out strength from…there, there is where we find the light in the darkness." Álmos said with a warm smile before waving his hand around him, the drapes rising and letting in more natural light as the candles went out. "The trick is bringing that light from being within, to coming out."

The group remained still and silent, the story had been simple, but the horrors that were alluded to, the fact that there had been death surrounding him as much as there had around Derek caused him to get up and walk over to his cousin, pulling the other werewolf up into a tight embrace.

"You are not alone anymore." Derek said as he just kept holding the only other family he had beside Cora and Peter. "We've both been visited by death a few times too many, if we can keep it from happening again, we will." he said stepping back and placing one of his hands on Álmos' shoulder.

"Derek, my cousin, you cannot stop death from coming when he will. But what you can do is keep him from coming too soon." Álmos said with a smirk. "Come now, the mood is far too dour for my liking, do you all drink? I have some rum, some mead…"

"Álmos I don't know how comfortable I am with the idea of…" Derek began to say before he was interrupted by his cousin's hand covering his mouth.

"Derek, you of all people should know that your typical alcoholic beverage will burn off in an instant with us wolves." Álmos said with a wink. "Or are you more concerned that our dear anchor here would be more a threat in such a state?" he asked teasingly before going off to pour a few light drinks, something to help chase the chill of the story and nothing more.

They all clambered together grabbing the small glasses and proceeded to sip at it. It was a home-brewed concoction. "It's a personal mead recipe, I blend in some mint and berry as it ages to sweeten it and give it some sharpness. It will invigorate as much as it will soothe, a good blend for after a tale such as the one you just heard, removes the chill and chases the thoughts away." Álmos said with a smile, as everyone seemed to enjoy their drink.

"Wow…just…damn is this stuff even legal? This shouldn't be legal, something this good shouldn't exist." Stiles stammered, as he got about half way through his own glass.

"What's the proof on this? I think Stiles is already getting tipsy." Isaac teased as he poked at the human's knee playfully only to have his hand slapped at deftly by the same person. "Nope he's good." he added with a nice full laugh, the twins joined in while Cora and Scott shook their heads, Derek simply pulled Stiles over onto his beanbag and rested his head on top of his the teen's.

"Well the drink is definitely doing its job right, seems we're all getting nice and cheery again." Álmos said with a smile as he began gathering the cups that were empty, Scott's pack had eventually settled into a less rigid set up, mingling more with the other three werewolves, Scot was now next to Cora, and the twins had settled on either side of Álmos, seemingly impressed with him. "So, who would like to help us move Cora and Derek back in hmm?" Al asked standing up and clapping his hands together, everyone suddenly snapping out of whatever reverie their minds had set into. Stiles hopped up raising his hand, immediately putting it back down when he realized just how overly eager he seemed. Isaac raised his hand as well more due to reflex, but also because he didn't want Stiles feeling left out. Scott nodded his head and Derek and Cora were pretty much not given a choice in the matter. That left the twins, who considering everyone was in on it, except them, agreed to help. Damnit peer pressure was going to be the death of them. "Excellent, this should get things done much faster now, and then if you would all like I can make dinner." he said looking everyone over again.

"No, not another meal cooked by master werewolf chef please, this time I'll cook something…pending you having what I need." Stiles said as he looked over his shoulder to Al. "No offense, but you keep feeding everyone like a happy Hungarian grandmother all of us are going to be fat." Stiles said jokingly.

"Oh trust me, I know, secretly I'm trying to make it so you'll all be nice and juicy after I cook you in the giant cauldron in my closet." Álmos said with an overly dramatic villain laugh. "But I look forward to what you have in mind Mr. Stilinski." the gypsy wolf said with a bow of his head.

"Please, call me Stiles, Mr. Stilinski makes me feel too old, besides that more what you'd call my dad if you meet him, he's the sheriff…oh crap dad said he wanted to meet you." Stiles said as he smacked himself in the forehead.

"There will be time, believe me. And Stiles it is then." Álmos said as he waved the moving crew to do what they did best as he prepared some sage and lavender to vaporize.

Moving things in was done in record time, werewolf strength and speed had serious bonuses and now Stiles understood how it was that Derek had been able to leave without so much as a word being spoken. He'd been finished in less than ten minutes. The only reason it took longer moving in is because Álmos made sure to smudge every bit of clothing and the like as it came in, him stating that everything needed to harmonize with the rest of the place, and to everyone else there it made just as much sense to them.

"Alright then Stiles what are you making?" Álmos asked as he walked over to the kitchenette Álmos had seeing Stiles working on eggs, bacon, and the unmistakable smell of French toast.

"Breakfast for dinner, figured it would be a good idea since half of the people here likely skipped it this morning." he said looking at Scott and Isaac, and also at Álmos who had apparently been doing battle with an evil spirit. The three of them all bowed their heads and even Cora shifted her eyes away, he wasn't surprised to see that the twins looked like they had, they seemed the health conscious types.

"Mmm, sounds good to me, I have some syrup from Vermont in the cupboard, should be good." Álmos said and Stiles eyes bugged out.

"Where have you been hiding all these years? Derek, can we keep him, he knows his food…and his sugar…and…okay he just knows a lot." Stiles said as he rushed back to cooking, wanting to be sure not to burn anything. A few minutes later he was serving up eight plates covered in breakfast food. "Okay everyone dig…" Stiles began to say before everyone began tearing into their meals, "in." he concluded with a shrug before joining in on the wolfing down of food.

After they were done there was a knock on the door, and Álmos made his way over, opening the mass of sliding metal and smiling as he saw the sheriff appear from behind it. "Ah Sheriff Stilinski, I'm glad you could make it. Stiles had mentioned you were planning to come over, please come in make yourself at home, there's some extra food on the stove if you would like it, we just finished up ourselves."

The sheriff was immediately taken aback at the sudden and unexpected warm welcome. Smelling the air he recognized the smell of Stiles' cooking and smiled. "I'd be glad to." John said as he walked in, still in uniform, likely just off of work. He looked around and saw everyone just hanging around on the cluster of beanbag chairs on the other side of the room, Stiles was curled up next to Derek, Scott and Isaac were clustered beside Ethan and Aiden, something he was still trying to get used to seeing. Cora was off doing her own thing in a corner of the area, seemingly reading a book from what he could tell. The sheriff made his way over to his son and ruffled his now somewhat longer hair and then looked at Derek, whose arm was draped over the younger male's shoulder. "I'm going to assume you two talked?" he asked looking between them.

"Yes, we talked, a lot, too much actually so I ended up kissing him." Stiles said which suddenly caused Scott to whip his head around.

"Wait, you what!?" Scott asked, eyes bugging out as he looked between them.

"Dude why else would I be frickin' snuggling with him?" Stiles asked pointing out the blatantly obvious.

"I figured you guys were just being close, you missed one another enough, but…damn, I didn't know you guys felt like _that_." Scott replied looking at them, his face a mix of confusion, shock, and maybe a twinge of anger.

"You have a problem with people who feel like 'that'?" Ethan asked reminding Scott of the fact that Ethan was dating Danny, the star goalie from their lacrosse team, in short that he was gay.

"I don't! Oh my god I so did not mean for it to sound like that. I just didn't think that Stiles was into dudes, and I sure as hell didn't think Derek was, I'm just surprised, I mean damn, it's not every day your best friend comes out to you saying he has the hots for a guy who used to threaten to kill you both on a regular basis." Scott said with a laugh.

Eyes rolled and a few people shared in the laughter but all Derek and Stiles did was look at each other and smile. That was definitely in the past now, and neither were interested in revisiting that.

"Well for now we're testing the waters, yeah, it's new for both of us, but hell I don't see and reason not to give it a shot." Stiles said almost more to Derek than the rest of the group, still looking into his hazel eyes.

"Well I better get this out of the way then." Scott said as he stood up and walked over to Derek. "You understand that Stiles is more than just a friend to me, he's like a brother, and if you so much as give him a paper cut I will hunt you down and rip your throat out." Scott said, giving his best big brother speech. "With my teeth." he added with a broad grin as both he and Stiles began laughing, and even Derek joined in for once.

"Since when did you start stealing my lines?" Derek asked as the laughter died down. "Stiles, if your 'big brother' here keeps this up he's going to be the new sourwolf." he added with a smirk.

"Oh my god, you did not just say that. I said that the yesterday after lacrosse practice, he was acting all grumpy and everything and I was considering passing the title down." Stiles said, as he looked at Derek with his mouth open. Derek smirked and leaned in and kissed Stiles, forcing his mouth to close a little, getting a collective 'ew' from Cora Scott and Isaac.

"What?" Derek asked when he broke the kiss. "Come on guys, you think its any better when we watched you make out with Allison Scott? Or when you are kissing Danny, Ethan? And do not even get me started with the shit you and Lydia have done in the janitor's closet Aiden. Grow up you guys seriously." Derek said as he pulled Stiles closer.

"Cheers to that cousin." Álmos said bringing some of his mint-berry mead and the sheriff's meal over to him. "He you go sir, enjoy." he said warmly.

"Is this alcoholic?" John asked sipping the drink and though feeling a soothing flow could note a slight bite.

"Yes, it's a personal recipe, mint and berry mead, perfectly fine in small amounts." Álmos said softly. "I don't hope you don't mind I offered some to everyone here, just a small glass, there had been a bit too much tension, that drink right there helps to ease such things." he added smiling as John tilted his head from side to side.

"I could see how it's pretty good, you sell this stuff?" John inquired as he took another sip and dug into his meal.

"No, just for friends and family, I'd have a hard time manufacturing enough of it for the number of people who'd want it." Álmos said laughing heartily. His laugh was musical, light and ringing, comforting almost and everyone could feel it. It was like the laugh of that one family member you loved to have come visit, and it helped everyone settle in more. Unlike before where the place had seemed like a cave, just a shelter in the middle of the storm, this place seemed like a refuge, a home and it was warm and welcoming.

"Fair enough." John said as he finished up his meal, mopping up the syrup with his French toast. "And yes Stiles I know you're going to make me do more at home to burn this off later."

"Nah, you've earned it dad, but tomorrow we're having salads." the teen said sticking his tongue out, gaining only a withering sigh from his father and a pinch from the man beside him. "Okay fine, we can have meat in this one." Stiles said at the silent urging of the brooding werewolf beside him.

"Okay then, I can live with that much." John replied. "Thank you, Derek, for helping my son see that starving me isn't the answer." the Sheriff said as he sighed, nice and full from the meal. "So, this place you run here, is it always a hangout for Beacon Hill's werewolves? Considering that all of the people in here excluding my son and myself and maybe you I can't tell, I just wait for Stiles to fill me in on that stuff now, are werewolves I assume you knew that." John said looking over at Álmos.

"Yes, I did know, yes I am one, I am Derek's cousin. As for this becoming a hang out for the Beacon Hills Pack, I quite like the sound of that." Álmos said as he looked around at the others. "But not during business hours, which means I will have to change the time for those." Álmos said as he looked contemplatively up at the ceiling. "Eight o'clock in the morning until four in the afternoon, plenty of time to let the young ones get their homework done." he teased as he reached over and ruffled Isaac's hair only to have him chuckle and straighten it out again.

"We don't need some sort of club house." Scott said as he stood up and stretched. "It will be nice to have a place to meet up when we need to discuss something, but we're not kids anymore, not after the shit we've been through." the young Alpha said as he stared around at the wolves that were now part of his own pack.

Álmos simply sighed and shook his head. "I see you have yet to learn one very important lesson." the gypsy wolf said as he looked back up with a stern expression on his face. "Never group up too fast, even when hell is unleashed upon you do not let it change who you are. You are still young, you are still learning, slow down and enjoy what you have while you still have it. You live your life too seriously and you welcome misfortune and that which feeds on your discomfort." Álmos said as he walked between the wolves, slowly facing one or the other. "This world is dreary enough without the younger people in it falling victim to the same despair as their elders…don't add to that number." he concluded before going over to sit at the side of the room near one of the windows, looking suddenly more weary.

John looked at the young man who had just spoken like someone well beyond his years, looking almost sadly upon the figure as he went over to the other side of the room. He moved over to Stiles and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's right, it's bad enough for me to know what it is you kids have gotten into, I don't want to see you growing up too fast either, there's only about a year left for me to even treat you as such…you wouldn't go taking that from me would you?" he asked looking at his son when he asked it.

"Me, oh hell no, you think I'm going to let up on you? Expect this year to be hell dad." Stiles said with a smirk as he poked his chest playfully. John just rolled his eyes before looking at Scott and the twins, even Isaac.

"Guys, take it from me, please." Derek said, speaking up. "I'd pretty much give anything at this point to have the chance to take the childhood I had torn away from me back, don't go forcing yourselves to grow up just because you feel you have to. Look at what it did to me. You want to end up an emotional wreck who tries to push everything away?" he added raising an eyebrow.

Scott looked at the ground and then looked back up. "I'm an Alpha, I have a duty to try and keep things from falling apart." he said as he tried to defend his reasoning.

"Last I checked so are Aiden and Ethan, and on top of that, you have a pack that you can depend on to be there for you Scott, you don't have to take on all that burden. I tried to do that when I was Alpha, I didn't let myself trust my pack enough to help me when I needed help and I stretched myself so thin that it fell apart. I wasn't able to help my pack because I wouldn't let my pack help me. I held them back, which held me back from doing what I should have, and realizing the things that I didn't realize until it was too late." Derek retorted firmly. "Listen to Álmos and listen to Stiles' dad, and listen to me. I know the last one is particularly hard for you since you never followed my advice in the past, but now that you're the big wolf in charge, maybe you'll listen to someone who's been there and done that and failed." the former Alpha said as he stood up. "Forcing yourself to grow up, though admirable, will only stunt your growth as a person. You'll never know what your life could have been if you had let nature run its course, and it will haunt you. The 'what ifs' will weight down on you and will keep you from truly growing. You'll always be stuck in the past." Derek said as he stood in front of Scott and looked down at Scott's deeper brown eyes with his hazel.

"Yes, yes, to Sourwolf you must listen, hmmm." Stiles chimed in with his Yoda impersonation. The twins responded with identical facepalms, Cora looked up from her book with an expression that screamed 'Dear god what fresh hell am I getting into', Derek shut his eyes and it looked as though the laugh he was suppressing was painful to do so. John just shook his head with a broad grin on his face. Álmos, Isaac, Scott and Stiles all burst into laughter however and as they did Derek joined in. Stiles would have to note that while Álmos' laughter had been enjoyable, Derek's made him melt, it just hit him in all the right ways and made him want to curl up beside the usually dour werewolf and hold him close. '_Okay, it's official, I love this man, wolf, manwolf…wolfman? Fuck it I love Derek Hale._' Stiles thought as he stepped forward and took his hand.

Thought Stiles would have never known it at that very moment, Derek was thinking the same thing as he felt Stiles take his hand again. "You know Álmos is right. You do make the perfect anchor." Derek said softly to Stiles as he looked down. "A complete and total geek, but I'm okay with that." he added before lifting Stiles' hand to his lips and kissing it gently.


	7. Knock? Why?

The rest of the night was spent with helping Cora and Derek set things up just right, helping them settle in. After that was done the twins decided it was likely best if they headed home, they didn't want to be up too late, they'd finally adjusted to sleeping like normal people, they wanted to keep it that way. Scott had to head back home to avoid making his father start in on him, asking where he was, why he was there, whom he was with and what they were doing. Having and FBI agent as a father was a pain in the ass. As much as Isaac wanted to stick around he figured it would be best to give the family some time and so he ended up leaving soon afterward to get to the Argents' place to get some rest in turn.

That left John and Stiles in the place alone with the other three werewolves. John had to get back home and change and likely get himself washed off after the long day dealing with Scott's father, going over every little detail of the events surrounding the systematic ritual sacrifices of several people from the town. Though Stiles figured he should go back with his father a part of him wanted to stay the night with them, it was an entirely different environment, much more embracing and less like the disconnected and often stagnant situation back at home. Stiles in his room typing away on his computer, and his father downstairs looking over case files.

Derek and Cora were both upstairs in their individual little areas setting up the beds that were there that Álmos had brought for any visitors who came from further distances, mostly other Romani traveling to seek his aid. But two beds were set up upstairs now to ensure that Derek and Cora would have their own spots to sleep.

"I understand your reluctance to leave Stiles." Álmos said as he walked over to where the young man was sitting. "You've missed him, and now you've realized the depth of your feelings. But let things settle before they grow, again, rush not." the gypsy wolf said softly as he placed a hand on Stiles' shoulder. Though welcome the feeling was foreign, a charge between them that didn't quite convey the concern in the best manner. The gypsy wolf noticed and pulled his hand off the other and cast his eyes to the ground. "Go home for this night, tomorrow is another day and you are more than welcome to join us here." Álmos said as he looked at the staircase and saw Derek coming down the black metal spiral.

The werewolf made his way over to Stiles and pulled him close, head resting in the crook of his neck. "It's going to take a couple days to get my bed comfortable for me let alone you." Derek said softly into Stiles ears before backing up to gaze at the soft, smooth face before him. "Besides, knowing Cora she'll probably bitch us out. I promise I'll come over tomorrow, and I'll do my best to…"

"Don't even worry cousin." Álmos said as he leaned in toward Derek and whispered so that not even Cora would be able to make it out. "The little sister will not be bothering you tomorrow, I'll be taking her shopping." he said before pulling back. "Should distract her significantly enough."

"Stiles was right. Where have you been all our lives?" Derek asked with a short little chuckle. "Thank you Álmos." the former Alpha said wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close before turning back around to Stiles. He leaned down and kissed him firmly before pulling away again. "I'll see you tomorrow." Derek said softly before walking him over to his father. "Thank you for coming over Sheriff, it was a nice little homecoming." the werewolf said softly as he slowly let his hand slip from Stiles'.

"Well, I'm just glad you can call this place home after everything you've been through." John said clapping a hand on Derek's shoulder.

Derek just shook his head. "It isn't the town…it's the people in it." Derek said as he looked over and smiled at Stiles, a flush covering the younger man's face, "You two have a good night, and drive safe." he added before leaving a softer kiss on Stiles' lips and moving over back to Álmos muttering something about catching some sleep before leaving a gentle wave to the Stilinski duo as they left the building.

As they got out of earshot of the werewolves John decided to strike up conversation again, even though Stiles had hoped he wouldn't. "So, you and Derek are an item now huh?" his father inquired as they continued driving back to their home.

"Yeah, we are, I mean it's new and everything so we're not exactly sure where to go with things yet." Stiles said as he started thinking a bit more, trying to keep from over thinking.

"Well, I'm sure there are places he wants it to go, but I want you to be sure you're not rushing to fast, you're still underage and I am the sheriff. I'm not going to let anything like that happen unless I know for absolutely certain that this isn't just some sort of hormonal…"

"Oh my god dad, we are _so _not having this talk right now, lalalalalalalalala." Stiles said covering his ears as he tried to close out the discussion going on. "God dad we are so not ready for that, hell we've only just started kissing, do you honestly think little virgin me is going to jump right into having sex?" he asked incredulously.

"Hey, Scott told me about how eager you were to stop being a virgin back when you thought they were all being sacrificed." John replied as he glanced over to his son. "And I heard about the condom falling out in your economics class, so I know you've at least thought about it." the sheriff said as he returned his eyes to the road.

"You know sometimes being the sheriff's son can be hell." Stiles said slumping into his seat and hiding his face in his hands. "Eventually yes it may happen, but please, _please_, do not ask questions, that's just too awkward, and we just got over our last awkward stretch, I'd like a vacation from awkward please." Stiles said holding his hands out.

John just laughed, shaking his head as he began the final stretch home. "Okay, I can do that much, just promise me when it happens that it will be because _both_ of you want it, and that you'll be safe." John said as he pulled into the driveway.

"Dad, the only thing that won't be safe is if he shifts on me, he doesn't get sick, werewolves are kinda awesome like that. But if he loses control, yeah, possible issues." Stiles replied now that he was thinking things over, if things did get more intimate with he and Derek.

"Hang on, he could shift during…nevermind I don't want to know." John said as he began to get out of the car. "Do I need to buy you a Kevlar vest or something?"

"Dad, I'm an anchor, if I'm half as good an anchor as they keep saying I am, he's not going to even come close to hurting me." Stiles said reassuringly to his father. "Hell you saw how gentle he was back there, I don't think he has it in him to hurt me like that." Stiles added as he got out and followed his father, turning him around to face him. "Just…don't worry about things okay?" he asked looking into his father's eyes.

John stood there for a moment, face screwed up in a firm expression as he thought things through. "Alright, I'll trust you on this, but please kiddo, don't go jumping into things too fast. Just, I don't know…let things go with the flow." he added before opening the door and heading inside.

"Trust me dad, that's one thing I have no intention of rushing." Stiles said as they got inside before heading up to his room and getting changed for bed. He put his phone by the bed and saw a missed text. As he opened it his heart did a rapid, rumbling, staccato in his chest.

-_Didn't get to say it back at the loft, didn't want Cora overhearing and bitching at me for it, but I love you Stiles…I'm hoping I can hear you say the same tomorrow. Derek-_

Stiles simply squealed internally once he finished reading that text, holding his phone to his chest as he spun around and practically jumped onto his bed. "Best…night…ever." Stiles said before looking into the corner of his room. "Or not." he added as he spied the figure standing there, silent, and just as arrogantly as he always had been before.

"Good evening Stiles, I see that someone's a little happy, I can only assume that means someone else is as well. I do hope you don't mind if I change that…just a little." came Peter's sadistic voice as he began moving toward Stiles' bed. The teen immediately snatched his phone and a small bag from his side table and threw the contents of it in a circle around him, almost immediately a misshapen ring of mountain ash surrounded him. "Clever boy, very clever, but what about your father? Hmm? You can't leave your little circle without warning him, and you know he won't be fast enough to run away.

"Who said anything about running away?" John's voice asked as he leveled his sidearm at Peter, his face firm as the metal of the gun. "And before you tell me you'll heal let me tell you something, talking to Chris in that root cellar made me change up my arsenal a bit." he added.

Peter took a deeper breath and glared at John who simply steadied himself. "Wolfsbane bullets, mountain ash circles, well isn't this cute, the humans are fighting back." he said before skirting between the pair to the nearby window. "I came for what I wanted, once Derek knows about this, you know he's just going to come hunting, or maybe Scott will. Either way I get what I want, you have a good night gentlemen." Peter said with a healthy dose of sarcasm. As he put his foot on the sill John fired a round just close enough to Peter's head to prove a point.

"You come near my son again and that will be putting you right back where you came from." John said vehemently. Peter had frozen for the moment before leaping out the window and running off as fast as he could from the no doubt spot on aim of the sheriff.

"Since when did you start using wolfsbane bullets?" Stiles asked as he looked at his father, shocked and clearly impressed with his father's marksmanship.

"Like I said, since Mr. Argent, Ms. McCall and I were tied up. We had plenty of time to talk down there." John replied as he double-checked his weapon. "Should keep him out of the house, and I expect you to take care of that mess when you get up." John added before leaving the room.

"Hey, thanks dad." Stiles said stopping his father for a moment before turning to face his son.

"It's my job Stiles, not only as the sheriff but especially as your father to make sure nothing bad happens to you." the older Stilinski said as he moved back over and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on his son's forehead. "Now go to bed, I know Derek won't want to have to come in to wake you up."

"Yes sir." Stiles said with a mock salute, lying down but not before leaving a line of ash at his window and around his bed. "Hey dad, put a circle around your bed too, I don't want to see him try breaking back in." Stiles added tossing the bag over. John nodded again before heading back to his room and doing the same thing in his own room; at least for tonight they'd be safe.

"Okay, so how long do you think you are going to be able to keep hiding your feelings for the boy?" Al asked Derek as he made his way to the staircase. "You realize he loves you right?" he inquired as Derek's foot fell on the first step.

"That would be why I sent him a text after the door closed. I didn't want to say anything because a certain person likes to groan at anything that involves me and said person." Derek said and as though on cue Cora piped in from above.

"Are you two really trying to talk like I'm not here?" she called down from over the railing. "Seriously I don't want to hear this stuff." she added covering her ears with her pillow.

Derek simply gestured with his hand while giving Álmos one of his patented 'You see what I mean?' looks.

Álmos shook his head and rolled his eyes. "You know little cousin I could always regale you with some tails of my numerous encounters with rather attractive men if you like. I promise to go into _excruciating _detail." the gypsy wolf called up to her, she merely huffed and buried her face in blankets and the like. "Don't worry about her too much, she's most likely more concerned about things not working out and having you close up again than anything else." Álmos said patting Derek's shoulder, and they both heard Cora's heart flutter a little at being called out. "Just have faith."

"I do." Derek said with a soft smile. He knew if he could trust and rely on anyone to make something work it was Stiles.

"Then everything is fine." Álmos replied with a smile. "Except for Ms. Attitude upstairs, but a new wardrobe should help fix that." he said being sure to have Cora hear him, that just set her heart beating at another interval, one of excitement. She hadn't gone shopping in years, and now she was going to. Álmos then proceeded to move behind his curtain and strip down to the pair of boxers he was wearing earlier that day and laid down on his bed, clapping his hands twice as the candles came back to life around the room and a few scattered crystals began to shimmer. "Goodnight my cousins, sleep soundly."

"Goodnight Álmos, and thank you again." Derek said before heading up the stairs and sitting down on his bed, taking off his shoes and socks before laying down and falling into a content, albeit solitary slumber…something he hoped to change as soon as he was able to. "Goodnight Cora." he said before falling asleep.

"Good night colossal pain in the ass." she muttered, but Derek knew she was just being difficult and smirked before sleep wrapped around him and whisked him off.

"You're making our plan very difficult Peter." came a chill voice from the trees around him, seemingly swarming around him, disjointed.

"I didn't know the old man would have wolfsbane laced bullets now did I?" the werewolf said through clenched teeth. "And Stiles was faster than I thought he'd be, I didn't know he had mountain ash stored in his bedside table."

"You didn't bother to check either. You rushed in without thinking, you're as idiotic as your nephew." the voice said, echoing around the clearing in the woods back here. "I've been trying to keep my grandson distracted enough for you to wreak enough havoc to leave Derek and his friends vulnerable. They give in even a little and my pets can latch on and then tear the last of the Smucz and Hale packs asunder. And this pathetic little McCall pack will fall as well, torn from the inside out. Without and anchor they will tear one another apart, but only after killing more people. Mmmm, I can practically taste the pain and misery, the fear…the fury." the voice continued further, as it grew deeper and more focused toward one corner of the clearing. A dark figure walked forward, a heavy black leather trench coat over his shoulders, his eyes sunken and his hair tied back in a long, slick, black ponytail. What skin was visible was a pale, ghastly hue that seemingly reflected the moonlight, and the freezing blue of the eyes only furthered that image. "By the way, your fear is particularly delicious tonight." the figure said as it shifted over the distance and then wafted the air around Peter to himself. "This will last me for the next few days."

"You can feed once this is over with. With Álmos dead, and with Derek and Cora removed from the picture the Hale pack Alpha inheritance will have no choice but to pass down to me." the werewolf added, frigid blue eyes meeting one another.

"Yes, lest we forget your hunger for more power. You will get what you want, but afterward, I will get what I want." the man in front of Peter whispered before wrapping a skeletal hand around his arm, Peter immediately sinking to his knees as a layer of what looked like frost-bitten skin began to spread over his arm, causing incredible pain.

"Yes, YES! Now let go of my fucking arm!" Peter said as he tore it from the man's grip, huffing in agony and ever so slowly, more so than he liked, the skin began mending."

"Manners Peter, and patience, next time be certain the boy is alone, and take the mountain ash from him. My grandson is weakening, he won't last too long now, but it will be more difficult if he is allowed to bond with his cousins. They could provide a pack to him, and his power would grow even more than it already is. Derek must lose his home, permanently." the pale figure stated with a tone of finality.

"Just like a gypsy." Peter said "Without a god and without a home." the werewolf said as he stared hard into the other man's eyes.

The figure smirked, and sarcastically applauded the other. "Such a clever little wolf, now go rest, I'll set you on a more viable target tomorrow, perhaps young McCall's father. His ignorance could work well to your advantage, and perhaps draw even more unwitting victims into the equation."

"Whatever you say Stephen." Peter said bitingly before turning and making his way back to his apartment, facing away from his present company and made his way out of the clearing.

The figure rushed the other and pinned him to a tree with ease. "The name is István you cur, and I expect you to remember that." he added before phasing through both Peter and the tree behind him causing Peter to fall, writhing on the ground beneath him, a mix of extreme cold and pain causing him to curl up. "Interesting, one would think that since you've touched death before you'd be used to that feeling." István's voice said echoing through the trees before it vanished.

By the time Peter was able to get up off the ground he and the rest of the area were covered in a layer of dew. He wiped himself off, still trembling before walking away from the clearing, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. "I'm really starting to hate that guy." he said bitterly as he looked at his hands, letting his claws come out and go back. "It will be worth it though." Peter added as he made his way through the early morning lit woods and back to the small little place he had downtown.

Stiles woke with a start when he thought he heard something moving in his room, moving closer and closer before vanishing as soon as it got too close to the mountain ash, the sound of a faint hiss echoing in his mind. He scanned the room, scouring every visible corner and every shadow, expecting to see some sort of smoky apparition lingering there. Nothing lingered though so he laid back down, pulling his baseball bat into bed with him for good measure. "I've really got to go see Deaton at some point, this whole having things sneak into my room is starting to get to me." Stiles said to himself as he tried to lay back down and get some sleep. However as the sun rose and the light began stabbing through the trees behind his home he grumbled and sat back up, stretching as he glared at the first rays of sunlight. "You…you my friend are evil." he added before stepping over the barrier of mountain ash and stumbling his way to the bathroom.

Stiles figured he had maybe a couple hours before Derek came over, always taking him to be the early rising sort, mostly due to the incredible amount of muscle on the guy, muscle that only came from and extensive workout. And oh boy that muscle. "Nope, stop, not yet, stop fantasizing…" Stile began saying but realized that wasn't going to happen. It was the earlier morning, he was a teenager, and he was thinking about how hot the werewolf who said he loved him last night was. "Well I did need a shower anyway." the teenager said as he stripped out of his boxers and his shorts before making his way into the shower, starting the water up as he put a towel within reach so he wouldn't drip water all over the place getting one later. The water warmed up to just the right point and Stiles stepped in, letting it run over his mostly smooth body, a few scraggly hairs were hanging out on his chest and a neat little treasure trail led lower to the well maintained mound of pubic hair the boy kept. He found the idea of being totally shaven to be something counter-productive. The idea of being as bare as a child made him feel like one and despite the fact that his father thought he should stop rushing to grow up he felt that this much was more than acceptable.

The water felt nice as it flowed over him, reaching up he smoothed back his brown hair and pulled out the bottle of shampoo from the rack on the wall. He poured some of the warm, sweet smelling compound into his hands and began to work it gently into his somewhat longer than normal hair. It was a new look for him and it seemed to be paying off, he liked it. Once content that his hair was properly cleansed he reached over for a similarly scented body wash. What could he say, warm sugar and vanilla worked for him, with his dark caramel colored eyes and his rich brown hair one would normally assume he'd smell equally warm and alluring. He slowly scrubbed himself down, taking time to realize that with all of the running around he'd done with the pack, lacrosse, or even just trying to keep up with everyone in general he was starting to get some nice definition, his lithe limbs showing some decent tone. "You're not too shabby yourself." Stiles said as he gave himself a good scrubbing and smiled at the fact that it wasn't just the werewolves who had bulked up.

"Now, back to the other reason I decided to come in here." he said as he reached down for the one place he had been neglecting all shower long. The hard, gently pulsing protrusion from his groin had been like that since he woke up, been stimulated further by his thoughts of Derek and with the water rushing over it had already made him want to go further. He reached down, wrapping a soaped up hand around his length and gently squeezed, legs tensing as a soft moan escaped his lips. He then began to gently run his hand up and down his shaft, the other moving around to start rolling and gently squeezing his balls as he leaned his head against the wall of the shower. "Mmmmm, god if only Derek were here to see this." Stiles moaned out, imagining Derek joining him in the shower, imagining his strong arms wrapped around him and their lips danced together, imagined those hands of his moving lower and…that's about as far as Stiles got before he painted the wall white with a firm jet of fresh cum, a deep pleasured moan escaping his lips as well as the suppressed name of the man who he had just imagined fondling him.

The young man chuckled as he detached the shower head and began spraying the wall clean. "Well Derek, you definitely have a very good effect on me."

"Is that so?" came a voice from the doorway of the bathroom, there stood Derek Hale, looking at the still naked, but luckily enough for Stiles, half concealed young man who was just about to get out of the shower.


	8. Smells Like Trouble

There was an awkward tension in the room as steam billowed out the open door of the bathroom and Stiles gulped quietly before reaching forward and grabbing a towel, closing the shower door behind him, the frosted glass sides, now misted over from the warm water, thankfully obscuring anything too revealing. He quickly dried his hair and patted himself down before wrapping the towel around himself before stepping out of the shower and going over to brush his hair down and apply some gel to get the nice flipped up look in the front. He then went through the rest of his morning routine before he went over to Derek.

"So um, just how much did you hear…or smell?" Stiles asked looking sheepishly up into Derek's eyes as his hand rested on the back of his head, subconsciously running his fingers through the shorter hair there.

"Long enough to know that we should probably talk again." Derek said as he turned around and hooked his finger in a beckoning manner behind him as he made his way to Stiles' room. They were heading over when Stiles suddenly realized something shocking.

"Oh my god, you used the front door!" Stiles exclaimed as he moved in front of Derek to stop him, placing a palm on his chest.

"Well I couldn't exactly use your window, you had a line of mountain ash there. You have something you need to tell me?" Derek asked as he moved by and then opened the door, seeing the clear circle of it around his bed as well. "What the happened here last night?" Derek asked as he turned back around and stared at Stiles, his expression firm and demanding.

"Promise you won't totally wolf out and start chasing that bastard down first." Stiles said, and perhaps he would have been better off silent because it didn't take Derek long to figure out who had been there, his stink still lingered in the room. His eyes flashed blue and his breath began growing more frantic.

"Who the hell does he think he is!?" Derek shouted, fangs elongating and claws slowly extending as he made for the window. "I'm going to fucking kill him…again!" he shouted as he went to grab for the windowsill only to get knocked back from the window.

Stiles moved over immediate to catch him before he ended up falling right onto his rear.

"Mountain ash Derek, you can't go that way, and you can't just rush off after him, he's probably expecting that, and Alpha or not I still think he can take you." Stiles said as he turned Derek to face him. "Please, just take a deep breath and calm down." the teen added as he placed on hand on the side of Derek's face and locked his maple-brown eyes to Derek's cold blue. The act took immediate effect, whatever bond they had snapping Derek from his rage, his blue eyes giving way to the hazel they normally were. He took a deep breath and began to calm down before leaning in against Stiles with a frustrated sigh.

"Can't we have just _one_ year without all hell breaking loose?" the werewolf said as he wrapped his arms loosely around Stiles' back and held him.

Simply chuckled and shook his head. "Nope, not allowed, we always have to be in the middle of something crazy." Stiles replied as he leaned in and kissed Derek gently. "But at least we do it together right?" he asked as he reached up and ran a hand through Derek's hair. He werewolf nodded and then relaxed further as he felt the teen's hand run through his hair. "Oh, and before I forget…I love you too Derek." Stiles added before using his hand's position urge Derek's head forward once more in order to place a much firmer kiss on the werewolf's lips.

Derek broke the kiss a moment after it started, a soft smile on his face as he pulled back. "Okay, let's start by saying how unfair it is that you can do this without even trying anymore, and then let's get this mountain ash cleaned up so we can sit down." Derek said as he left soft kiss on Stiles' cheek.

"Deal." Stiles replied with a smirk as he got up and began dragging his hand around his bed, collecting the mountain ash as best as he could, and admittedly impressively so. Little was left uncollected before be poured it back into the bag in his side table. He then hopped up onto his bed leaning against the headboard as he looked over at Derek who crawled in beside him.

"So it's clear that you've started thinking about a few things." Derek said as he looked down at his own feet resting on the bed. "I know that it would be a huge step, for both of us. But I need you to understand a few things before we go too far, and I want to be completely sure you really want to get that serious." Derek said as he looked over to Stiles' feet, not sure he wanted to look into the teen's eyes yet.

"It might be new, I may not be ready right now, but I know that I want us to be able to get to that point. I realize we have a lot to talk about, but hell if I'm already having shower fantasies I think we're well on our way right?" Stiles asked teasingly as he took Derek's hand. "So…I just realized, we're official, but what do we call what we have? Are we boyfriends? Dating?" Stiles began asking.

"Well technically if you want to give it werewolf terms we'd be mates…which brings me to my next point. If you're serious about this, if you really love me, as much as I know I love you…I want us to be able to make this just as serious. Wolves mate for life, we stay with that person for our entire life." Derek said as he brought Stiles' hand to his lips.

"So the others, Kate, Jennifer…" Stiles began only to be cut off by Derek turning to face him.

"There's only one other person who I even came close to feeling the way I feel about you, and I was stupid and because I let someone else determine her fate, because I didn't trust my instincts." Derek said as his eyes stared into Stiles', his own looking haunted.

"You mean Paige." Stiles said, his tone understanding as he saw the tears starting to build up in Derek's eyes, pulling him closer as he began to cry gently, letting those tears seep into yet another t-shirt. "I understand Derek, I know…I know." Stiles said in shock as he gently pulled back. "How can I know?" he asked as suddenly his own eyes began welling up.

Derek started looking at Stiles more intently, searching his face, and looking at his torso. "They say a mate can feel how the other feels, kinda like a two way empathic connection, it's how they keep each other safe, they can feel when the other is hurt, or in danger." Derek said looking just a little miserable. "God damnit Stiles I didn't want you feeling this." Derek said as he fought to pull his feelings in, but he couldn't, the bond kept him from holding back and he just groaned in misery as he leaned in against Stiles' chest. "I hate feeling like this, I hate feeling like I'm weak." he said gripping Stiles' shirt.

"Derek…Derek you aren't weak if you show emotion, you aren't weak if you cry. You feel, it happens, and trying to keep it all in has done what for you so far?" Stiles asked as he lifted Derek's face to look at his own. "Look at me babe, letting it out is _so _much better than trying to keep it all in, it keeps you sane, keeps you from having to not only fight everything around you but also yourself. You let it out babe…don't hold it back anymore." Stiles added as he held Derek's head in place.

The entire time Derek was looking at Stiles with a soft smirk on his face as though somehow Stiles had said some magic word that had just dried up all his tears and pulled him out of his sorrow. He had, though he may not have realized it, he'd said the word twice, likely not even realizing he had, but it had immediately snapped him out of his thoughts of the past.

"What? Why are you looking at me like I've somehow made rainbows pop out of my ears and brought joy to all the boys and girls of the world?" Stiles asked as he slowly let go of Derek's face, now reaching around his head to see if he'd somehow acquired some new organ.

"You called me 'babe'." Derek replied quietly as he took Stiles' hands and pulled them free from their roaming about his cranium. "Not even Paige called me that…and…it just sounds right on a lot of levels." Derek added as he ran a hand of his own along Stiles' cheek.

"I…I honestly didn't realize I said that." Stiles said eyes widening and going out of focus for a minute. "Heh, guess it's just natural to want to call you that, maybe it's a mate thing." the teenager said as he smiled warmly. He was then suddenly aware that he was still practically naked. "Oh…um, right, clothes, clothes need to happen." Stiles added as he began to blush furiously.

"Can it wait until after we finish talking? I still need to go over some details should things get a bit more…well, heated." Derek said as his breath hitched a little, the twenty-something year old blushing a bit as he began to think of what the towel was covering, mentally berating himself for his patience being subverted like that.

"Okay, go ahead then, I figured that there would be a few possible concerns, fangs, claws, all that fun stuff, super-strength." Stiles said listing things off and flipping up fingers. "I'm not going to have to worry about getting knocked up will I?" Stiles teasingly inquired.

"No, that much we can rule out, to my knowledge you still need woman bits in order to conceive a child," Derek said with a fair bit of playful sarcasm, "and the fangs and claws will only come out if I shift, which, honestly, may happen." Derek said, Stiles beginning to speak up only the have Derek clap a hand over his mouth. "No, listen I need to say this. Because you're my mate, I'm going to want to take you like I am, and as much as I am this right here in front of you, I'm also the hairy, clawed and fanged beast you've seen fighting this entire time. I don't want you panicking if I shift as we're about to get into things." Derek added as he slowly moved to wrap an arm behind Stiles' back and around to his stomach as he laid them back against the headboard again.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense, so long as it isn't out of control you who might decide to take a chunk out of my shoulder of something." Stiles said, showing the typical concern in having a fully wolfed out person getting nice and intimate.

"I'd never do that babe, and I won't be able to. You're not just an anchor, you're my mate, and I literally will not be able to hurt you without hurting myself. Which reminds me, you die, I die, so no more putting yourself at unnecessary risk, okay?" Derek asked, as he looked Stiles dead on.

That hit Stiles like a sledgehammer; he was now a serious liability issue to Derek, instantly he began to wonder whether or not he really could do this, if he could risk putting Derek at such risk. With Peter on the loose and heaven knows what else, how could he guarantee he could keep himself form being killed by some random creature?

"Before you start panicking, remember, we're connected, which means if you're in danger I will know, I will be able to find you and protect you, I will always be there now." Derek said feeling the sudden instability in his mate and quickly moving to fix the problem he'd caused. "So unless I fuck up as a mate you're not going to die of anything other than old age, or from heart issues."

"Heart issues?" Stiles asked, eyebrow raising as though he were expecting some sort of werewolf related cause for why that would be a cause of death.

"Stiles, I've seen how you eat." Derek replied with a smirk only to get a rueful look from his mate and a fake pout before Stiles grabbed a pillow and bopped Derek on the head with it. "I'll take that as a 'you love me' bop." the lycanthrope added before continuing. "Aside from everything else you know about what changes when I shift: hair, fangs, claws, eyes. There is one more thing that changes, and I want you to promise me you won't freak out on me, please." Derek pleaded as he let his hazel eyes peer into the warm brown with concern etched on his face.

"Why would a freak out?" Stiles said as he slowly shifted so he could face Derek as bit better. "Do you start getting a tail or something?" he asked looking over at Derek's back.

"I, well, my cock shifts a little." Derek mumbled, barely audible to himself let alone to his boyfriend, his mate.

"For those of us here without super hearing?" Stiles asked as he got up and sat on his heels, towel still covering him well enough.

"My cock shifts too." Derek said as he broke eye contact. "As in it gets more, well, lupine." he added as an untapped source of insecurity began to swarm up his chest.

"So what it gets more pointed? Do you get a knot or something? Hang on, lemme check something." Stiles said going over to his laptop and opening things up and then going to one site in particular, it was one that he'd heard about in passing with some kids in school who were self proclaimed 'furries. "Does it look anything like this?" he asked as he turned the screen to show an adult phallic devise that was supposedly modeled to be a 'werewolf cock'.

"Actually, as surprised as I am to say this, yeah, it is kinda like that." Derek said, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the fact that he was now looking at sex toys with his mate.

Stiles looked the toy over some more and looked at the sizes the toy apparently came in, figuring in the case of his mate they were likely dealing with something close in proportion to the medium size listed on the site. "Well, it will definitely take a lot of practice…but I know we'll be able to get to that point Derek." he said before turning the computer off and turning his attention back to his mate.

Derek was floored. He'd expected Stiles to be traumatized by the fact that if they ever had sex and he wolfed out that there was a chance he'd end up with something roughly the size of an orange getting shoved into his ass. "I…are you sure you could deal with that in the relationship babe?" Derek asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I said I loved you didn't I? Besides, I kinda threw out the idea of anything in our relationship being inherently normal when, you know, I realized I loved you." Stiles added sticking his tongue out. "Besides, that knot seems like it would be pretty intense, we just need to ease our way to that point, right?" Stiles asked as he focused his gaze on his mate.

Derek nodded, he had no idea how he could possibly have lucked out enough to have found someone as amazing as Stiles, he was simply thankful that for once the universe had seen fit to grant him this blessing instead of taking it away. He extended his arms to Stiles who happily moved forward and fell into them, laying on top of the werewolf and kissing him deeply.

"Mmm, I'll take that as a yes. Now, anything else you need to tell me Derek? Or can I get dressed?" Stiles asked as he peered down into the face of his mate who simply looked back up at him and gave him a soft smooch. "Another yes then, okay, you go downstairs, I'll be down shortly." Stiles said as he turned to loot his drawers for today's outfit.

"Why? Where were you planning on going?" Derek asked as he headed for the door of his mate's room.

"I want to see if Deaton can start teaching me a few things, help me become more of an asset to the group than I am now. I don't want to see anyone else getting hurt, and I don't want to feel like I'm holding everyone back by being the defenseless one. A pack is only as strong as its weakest link right? I don't want to be that weak link, so if I can learn any tricks or figure some way to help protect us from getting screwed over by anything like what Al has been dealing with all the better." Stiles explained as he tossed over a superman t-shirt, a blue plaid button-down, a pair of jeans and sock, and a pair of blue boxer briefs.

"You're not the weakest link, but I understand your motives, I'll go with you, might be good to talk to him about the whole cousin situation anyway." Derek added before heading downstairs.

About an hour later once Stiles was all dressed and the two of them had eaten a small breakfast they headed out to the Vet Clinic. Pulling up in front of the office and walking in, seeing Deaton standing there behind the desk with an almost expectant look on his face caused them to look at one another with an inquiring expression.

"Before you start asking which of you it was that called me, it was neither. I got a curious call from a certain Álmos Smucz saying that his cousin and his cousin's mate would be coming in today. I must say I'm less shocked that you two are mates as much as I am that someone is calling claiming to be Derek's cousin." Deaton said as he opened the little gate to allow the two into the back, and mischievous little smirk on his face.

"He's Farkas and Maria's son." Derek said to which Alan nodded his head and gestured them over to the exam area.

"I assumed as much, I'm actually relieved to know he's alive, Marin and I have been detecting a swell of negative energy in the area lately, we think it may be tied into the nemeton, but more importantly, tied into what happened to you aunt Derek." Alan said as he began looking through a few clipboards with data on his current patients. He was still at work; he needed to make things look normal for the most part.

"He told us about what happened…are you saying that his grandfather's spirit is still hanging around?" Stiles asked as he looked over to Deaton.

"I'm certainly not ruling it out, his grandfather was a ruthless man, obsessed with power. Unfortunately many packs eventually encounter such werewolves within their own numbers, it's frequently the bane of them. Tell me, has Álmos mentioned having issues with strigoi lately?" Alan inquired looking the couple over as they took to standing side by side.

: "Actually the day I met him at the loft he said he'd just finished dealing with one, he smelled like something had died and fallen on him so I can only assume that's what one smells like." Derek said as he filled Alan in.

"He told me he expected several to come to the area due to the murders, all the pain and negative emotions." Stiles said. "He also told me that Scott, Allison and I were in particular risk of falling victim to some of them." he a said as he looked up at the druid. "I actually came here to see if there was anything you could teach me to help keep them away." Stiles said as his gaze locked with Alan's.

The older man just smiled and nodded. "There are several things I can teach you, and I would consider it a personal honor to do so. For the time being though I think it is clear that Álmos is in danger. All these strigoi, they won't just go for the typical people in town, they'll go after those who have already faced death. They'll go after those who have that darkness already inside them." Deaton said as he looked back at Stiles, and then looked at Derek. "If Álmos grandfather is involved than it is possible that he may try to become a rallying point for them, direct them to certain people. So in a way you are right Stiles, you, Allison, Scott, you are all at risk. But so are Cora, Derek and Álmos, even Ethan and Aiden. Remarkably enough one of the few people not in danger would be Lydia. Banshees tend to drive the spirits of the dead well away from them. Something about being near someone who can accurate forecast death tends to do bad things to those already so." Deaton said as he went over those people most in danger of strigoi attacks.

"There's also the issue of Peter, he's up to something, he snuck into Stiles' house the other night, if it hadn't been for the mountain ash he kept in his side table he and his father could have been killed." Derek said as he brought that little tidbit of information forward.

"I'm glad that he took that small supply from me then." Deaton said as he began looking through a few of his books, on a shelf, most of them, much like his containers marked with ogham markings. "If Peter is trying to destabilize things it is most likely that he is trying to gain back something himself, most likely the Alpha position of the Hale pack." Deaton replied with a sigh as he pulled one book down. "Now, let's get down to business Stiles." Alan added pulling a book down from the shelf. The book bore a mark on the front cover, three dots arranged in a subtle arch with three lines coming down from them, the middle straight and the left and right moving in a slight slant away from the center, looking almost like rays of light.

"I recognize that symbol…oh come on…it's a…a…an awen. I was doing some research once you mentioned something about druids, looked up some symbols, that one of them." Stiles said as he moved over to stand next to Alan, peering down as he opened the book, more ogham writing that he couldn't read. "Okay so one of these days I need to learn how to…nevermind." he added as he saw Deaton move to another page which seemed to be an English translation of the prior page.

"I made sure to make it so that newer generations might be able to read and learn a bit more readily. In hear are a few rituals, incantations and descriptions of certain plants and can be used to ward off the type of spirits that are threatening you and your families." Deaton said as he left Stiles to look things over before he made his way over to Derek.

"What did you mean about getting the Alpha position of the Hale pack. The Hale pack doesn't have an Alpha, not since I healed Cora." Derek said as Alan made his way over.

"The has always been an Alpha of the Hale pack in Beacon Hills, and so it has remained, so it must always be." Alan said as he went back to checking charts for the animals he was tending to.

"Then who's the Alpha now?" Derek asked confused as to why if he wasn't Alpha anymore, and Cora wasn't, and Peter wasn't, then who was it?

"Álmos." Deaton said simply. "Maria Hale was his mother, he isn't only the Alpha of the Smucz pack, he is the Alpha of the Hale pack as well." the druid said as Derek looked on with a shocked expression.


	9. Author's Apology

**Hello my readers, I apologize in advance for any issues in your reading experience. It was only recently brought to my attention that my chapters were out of sequence. I have fixed things, please forgive me for the confusion.**


	10. Okay Even Webs Aren't This Tangled

A tense moment passed by as Derek digested the words that Deaton had just fed him. "What do you mean he's the Alpha of the Hale pack? Why would it pass to him, he's not…" Derek began saying before Alan raised a hand to silence him.

"He is Maria's son, Talia's nephew. When you lost your Alpha status it passed to the next oldest member of the pack, that being Álmos. It didn't pass to Peter because he had already held it prior, stolen it from Laura. Had Laura died at a hunter's hand or at the hand of anything other non-werewolf it would have passed directly to you. Peter cannot become Alpha, not unless there are no other Hales around. He would become the Alpha simply because of the lack of other Hales left in the bloodline." Alan began to explain. "This means that if Peter is indeed looking to destabilize things he is most likely seeking a way to do just that, which places you, Álmos and Cora in serious danger." the druid said sternly. "There is only so much I can do directly, I was your mother's Emissary which places me in a position where I cannot myself harm any member of the Hale pack. It is a solemn and unbreakable oath that every Emissary takes when they pledge themselves to a pack. They may defend themselves, but they cannot knowingly and willfully harm the pack they serve."

It was at this time that Stiles made his way over to pair carrying the book with him, having looked a few things over enough to figure out ways to at least keep the dark things lingering around Beacon Hills from latching onto anyone. "So I'm looking at having to make a vow never to hurt whatever pack it is I end up looking after?" he asked as he set the book down on the nearby desk.

"Actually, that is something we should likely discuss. As you are both close to Scott and Derek there may be a slight conflict of interests as to which pack it is you'd want to be the Emissary to." Alan said as he looked at Stiles an almost sad smile on his face, and it was understandable, he'd basically just asked Stiles to choose between his best friend and his mate.

Stiles was silent for a moment, this was far from something he'd wanted to start worrying about so soon. He figured once Álmos had mention Deaton wanting to teach him to follow in his footsteps that it would lead to him having to choose which direction he'd have to go. "If it weren't for the fact that Derek and Scott would sooner rip the each others heads off I'd say _their_ pack, but I know that's about as likely as a the queen of England inviting me for high tea at Buckingham Palace." Stiles said with a sigh. This was really quite possibly one of the least fair things to ask him, but more and more he figured he already knew his answer, especially when he saw the pain in Derek's eyes his heart sank. "I'm sure Scott has plenty of time to find someone else, besides, sometimes I need to be able to whack him upside the head without having to worry about some sort of oath against directly harming him getting in the way." Stiles said with a wide smirk. As though saying this was the best thing in the universe Derek's shoulders fell with a barely noticeable sigh of pure relief. Stiles simply smiled as he made his way over to Derek and pulled him close, taking one of his hands before he leaned into him. "Besides Derek would be lost without me anyway." Stiles added sticking his tongue out at him with a smirk on his face. Derek simply rolled his eyes and chuckled before quickly picking Stiles up and flinging him onto his shoulder upside down. "Hey, hey lemme go!" Stiles said as he started kicking and laughing.

"Stop being a pain and I will." Derek said over his shoulder. Stiles mumbled something about Derek being a spoilsport but Derek took it as apology enough and moved Stiles back around to kiss him. "I love you too Stiles." Derek said as the kiss broke.

"As touching as this display of affection is would it be at all possible for me to speak with Deaton please?" came the unmistakable English accent of the former threat to Beacon Hills.

Derek immediately whirled around and moved between Deucalon and Stiles, eyes flashing blue as he stared the Alpha down in the exam room of the druids' animal clinic. Deaton simply placed a hand on Derek's shoulder and moved forward, calmly standing in front of the other werewolf and looking at him sternly.

"Why are you here Deucalion?" he asked with a raised brow. "Last I checked you had been asked to leave the territory by Mr. McCall, I would hate to see his reaction were he to realize you were back in town." Alan added as he crossed his arms passively in front of himself.

Deucalion simply turned his blue eyes on Deaton raising a brow of his own. "In the recent past I would have killed you simply for looking at me the wrong way Alan, but this business I come with is a bit more pressing." the English werewolf said as he stood his ground, his tone civil, and grim.

"What is it?" Stiles asked stepping around to look at Deucalion and look sternly into his now healed eyes.

"There are going to be a lot of deaths come tomorrow. István has very much come back." the disgraced Alpha said with a stony face that would rival Derek at his worst.

Scott was sitting at home, across the living room from his father his mother beside him as he face him down. He was taking Stiles up on his advice, if his father had any idea what was going on in Beacon Hills he wouldn't be as easy a target to go after, he could at least protect himself, get in touch with Chris and Allison and figure something out.

"So would someone tell me why I'm sitting here feeling like I'm the one about to be grilled?" Howard asked as he faced his son and ex-wife, wondering what was going on.

"I'm going to tell you something, something that you're only going to believe if I show you, and something that after I show you might make you either run screaming out of town, or make you want to stay around even more." Scott said getting up from his seat before closing his eyes. Hair began spreading on his face, his teeth sharpened and claws extended from his fingers, when he opened his eyes they were a bright scarlet. "Not exactly the kind of coming out most dads are worried about, but dad, I'm a werewolf." Scott said as he stared his father down.

Howard looked like he'd just been told that everything he'd ever known was a lie, and he was half right. The monsters that walked the earth that had been discredited as hoaxes and legends were very much real, and one of the most well known was now staring down at him with glowing red eyes. "What the hell was in that drink you gave me Melissa?" Howard asked, his tone accusing as he shifted, quivering in his seat trying to crawl his way to the other side of the house.

"I reacted the same way the first time I saw Scott like this, I swore I had lost my mind, but Howard, it's the truth, but before you end up calling Homeland Security or something remember, he's your son. I don't want him ending up on some sort of exam table being dissected by some scientists trying to figure out what makes werewolves tick." Melissa said firmly as he moved to cut off Howard's escape.

"This…how can this actually be happening? How…" Howard said as a clawed hand gently lay on top of his shoulder. He flinched away as his heart hammered in his chest, the hand was removed with and almost sad expression crossing over Scott's face as he shifted back.

"There are some crazy things that go on in this town dad, things that don't make sense and things that could get you hurt if you don't find out about them. I don't want you getting caught up in the middle of something and then getting hurt." Scott said softly as he looked at his father. "You may not have been there for me and mom, but you're still my father, I still care about you." he added a little more firmly before he stepped out of the room.

Scott's words had hit home a little harder than they should have, bringing up his failure as a father and as a husband was a harsh slap in the face to Howard as he sat there. Still shaken though he was that heavy weight of guilt hung there in his guy and dragged his head down to look at the ground. "So this is how it feels to have been a total failure."

Melissa stood there shaking her head as she walked after her son. "He still cares about you Howard, so the least you can do is stop feeling sorry for yourself and be there for him. Now you know what's really going on around here, do us a favor and either leave, or figure out a way to make sure you don't end up getting used as a pawn by someone who wants to hurt him. I'd go talk with Chris Argent, it might keep you from getting yourself killed." Melissa added before leaving the room to see Scott nowhere in sight, but she could hear some movement upstairs and made her way up. She peeked inside the door to Scott's room and what she saw struck her hard. There was her son, laying in bed, alone, holding a pillow and crying just like he had when his father had first left when he was so much younger. She knocked on the door before opening it up more, Scott didn't move and so Melissa took the initiative and walked her way over and pulled her son up and held him close.

"Why is it always like this with him?" Scott asked with a frustrated sob, burying his face in his mother's shoulder. "He should have just stayed away, he should have left us alone. I wouldn't have had to tell him anything, I wouldn't have him hate me." Scott said as he just kept sitting there.

"He doesn't hate you Scott, he's probably a little freaked out and damn near close to shitting his pants, but he doesn't hate you.' Melissa said as he gently rubbed her son's back. "Now cheer up, we've done fine without him, I'm not going to let him swoop in and make you start beating yourself up." she added as she gave Scott a few good pats on his back. "It'll take him time to adjust, it's not like he's seen you save people's lives or anything like I have, so give him some time to adjust…" she began saying before she heard Howard's vehicle start up and drive off. Scott heard it too and the look on his face spoke volumes, he was really torn up over this. "If you wanna stay up here and get some rest that's okay, but you're coming downstairs once I fix dinner." Melissa said firmly as she took Scott's chin and wobbled it, causing him to smirk and reach forward to hug his mother.

"Okay mom, thank you for being here for me." Scott said as he squeezed his mother gently before turning and laying down again, this time trying to rest away his insecurities and unhappiness.

"That's my son." Melissa replied before going downstairs to the kitchen to start cooking, going to the fridge she saw a note. Taking it down she began to read what Howard had transcribed on it:

-_Went to meet with this 'Chris Argent' you mentioned. If I'm going to finally not fuck up with my own son I better start now. -_

"Well call me surprised." Melissa said with a smirk before crumpling the note and tossing it out and going back to getting everything together for dinner.

Chris was in his office going over some weapons orders for some security details at some embassy over in the middle of nowhere, shaking his head as he read what they were looking for. "Mhmm, sure, the 'President of Amrika wants some assault rifles. Request denied." he said as shredded the request and leaned his head on his hands. "They can't even be clever and just say it's some prince in Saudi Arabia who wants to protect his particular oil field." the scruffy hunter said as he shook his head before hearing the doorbell ring. "Allison could you go see who that is?" Chris called out his door, when he heard the doorbell ring again he figured that Allison must have run of somewhere…again. "Or I can." he said as he got up, some of his joints crackling unpleasantly, he was getting a little worn out ever since moving back to Beacon Hills, maybe he should go talk to Derek…right, Derek had left, so much for asking him for some workout tips. Then again he somehow had the impression that he wouldn't get far by asking a werewolf that. The doorbell rang again before Chris got there and opened it. "Hello…oh, Mr. McCall, what can I do for you?" Chris said, recognizing the man as not only the FBI agent asked to investigate the murders in the area, but also as Scott's father.

"First off you can tell me how the hell I'm supposed to handle having a werewolf for a son." Howard said as he barged in and sat down on the nearest chair he could find. Chris merely looked a little shocked and tried to play dumb.

"A werewolf? Howard I think you've been a little too stressed out, what are you talking about?" Chris inquired as he moved over to the wall across from the man.

"I'm talking fangs, fur, claws, glowing red eyes…Mr. Argent, what the hell is going on around here and why does Scott think you can help me?" Howard asked as he just stared almost desperately at Chris.

"So he showed you himself then." Chris said as he sighed heavily, looking at the floor before looking back up. "Alright, then follow me." the hunter said as he beckoned Howard to follow him to the other room. "Myself and my family have been hunters for a long time, dealing with creatures like werewolves, kanimas, so on and so forth for centuries. What we have is knowledge on how these creatures work, where they go, what they do, what can kill them." Chris added as he reached into a drawer and pulled out a box of bullets, an image of a plant on the cover of it, soft purple-blue flowers growing from it. "These," Chris said opening the box and pulling one of the projectiles out, "is a bullet that's been treated with wolfsbane, wolfsbane is poisonous to humans but is absolutely lethal to werewolves. If you ever deal with one, and trust me around here there's a good chance, and they get violent, one bullet and a good shot will take care of them pretty quick. I can only assume Scott sent you here because he's afraid of someone using you as a bargaining chip to force him into doing something." Chris added handing the 9mm bullets to the FBI agent.

"He said he was concerned, he didn't go into specifics, though that would certainly explain why he sent me here. You know how to kill them, do you know how to cure them?" Howard asked praying Chris would tell him there was a way for Scott to _not_ be a werewolf.

"Yes, of course there is." Chris said as he turned to face Howard. "You kill him, death cures all ills." Howard's face went from hopeful to dismal in no time flat. "Once bitten there's no going back, no exorcism, no ritual, nothing." Chris said as he heaved a heavy sigh. "If there had been my uncle and my wife would still be alive today." Chris said as he raised his eyes to look into Howard's own.

"Your uncle and wife were werewolves?" Scott's father inquired as he stared firmly at the other man in the room.

"Emphasis on _were_, they both killed themselves. A hunter considers it the ultimate dishonor to become that which it hunts." Chris replied as he made his way out of the room, followed by Howard as they made their way to the kitchen. Chris poured himself a small glass of bourbon and did the same for Howard. "I think it's safe to say you could use this." he added sliding the glass over to the FBI agent who took it and gave it a small sip before downing it.

"How…how do you do it? How do you handle knowing what you know?" the eldest McCall asked as he put the glass down.

"I was raised knowing about it, so it's easier for me to handle, in your case however I would simply take solace in the fact that your son is at least being honest with you and is trying to keep you safe. Yes, he's a werewolf, but not all werewolves are murdering, psychotic monsters. Neither are all hunters paragons of justice." Chris added as he nodded his head toward a closed door. "My father used my entire family just to get bitten by an Alpha werewolf, to be turned. As a cure for cancer, not taking into account that he'd killed one daughter, a daughter-in-law, and nearly his own son and granddaughter." Chris added with an anger burning in the back of his eyes.

"Wait, being turned can cure cancer?" Howard asked before being shut down by a glare from Chris.

"Werewolves might be immune to most illnesses but that does not make it a viable option. To be honest some people are better off dead. Furthermore, not everyone who ends up bitten survives, many actually reject the bite and die from it." Chris said as he drank from his own glass. "So before you go trying to market the idea keep that in mind and also keep in mind people who are turned are prone to killing on their first full moon unless they're born werewolves, and even then unless they belong to a pack, you're more prone to kill more people than you save." Chris stated before finishing his drink.

That was all more than enough to humble Howard, it seemed he wasn't making good marks with anyone today, or this week to be honest. "Sorry, I didn't really…" Howard began and Chris just raised his hand.

"I know, you're new to all of this, your brain is trying to pull out every little good thing you can and capitalize on it in order to cope." Chris said as he sat down on a stool in the kitchen. "Though there is one thing that'll pay off from all of this." Chris added with a smirk.

"Yeah, what's that?" Howard asked, desperate to have some good news out of the hunter.

"You'll always be able to tell that he's faking to get out of school. Only excuse he'd have is severe insomnia, and even then, that's why they made melatonin. Works just as well on werewolves as it does humans. Naturally made compounds are good like that." Chris said as he laughed. Howard just stood there, hanging his head. He was hoping for something other than a joke, but he figured that at least if Chris could joke about things like this than it was possible for him to adjust.

"Well, thanks for the bullets, I do hope I won't need them but still. I should head home and try to apologize to Melissa and Scott." Howard said as he ran a hand over his face. "She's probably making dinner too, so maybe if I'm lucky I won't need to go and get take-out from somewhere."

"If Melissa is anything like Victoria was, you might be stuck trying to hunt something down for dinner." Chris said with another laugh before he bid the FBI agent a fond farewell.

"What do you mean István is back?" Derek asked as he moved across and pinned Deucalion to the wall, glaring at him, only to get an amused smirk down from the Alpha pinned to the wall.

"Well I'm not going to very well say much while I'm pinned to a wall now am I Derek?" Deucalion said as he took a hold of Derek's hands and pried them from his shirt before regaining his footing. "I mean just what I said, István has in fact returned. Did you think that his grandson's presence here is a mere coincidence? Or that the strigoi that have been following him were simply being drawn by the nemeton?" he asked as he surveyed the people in the room.

"István is directing them to go after Al, isn't he? He's trying to beat him down so he can kill him…but for what purpose?" Stiles asked as he hopped up onto one of the counters, the whole standing around all day was starting to make his legs cramp.

"Much like how Peter returned from his grave István has his own way of doing so, but he needs someone of his own bloodline to die, and seeing as Álmos is the last of his that means he's the only one left that István can use for his plan." the Alpha said as he went over and calmly rested his forearms on the exam table. "However he realizes that due to certain complications in his grandson's genetics that he isn't the best target so long as there is still a Hale pack as well." Deucalion said eying Derek firmly.

"He sent Peter after Stiles and John…but why?" Derek asked as his eyes flashed blue again before meeting Deucalion's red, Deucalion was pulling rank and telling Derek to calm down at the same time.

"He must realize you're Stiles' mate, if he kills him he kills you both, which leaves Cora to fend for herself. After that it wouldn't be terribly difficult for István to kill Peter, even if he is dead." Deucalion said filling them in further.

"How do you know any of this?" Deaton asked as he stepped forward, wanting to know how at all possible it was that the self-proclaimed Demon-wolf would know this.

"Because I happened to overhear a fascinating exchange between the two while I was taking a stroll through the preserve near the old Hale house. I wanted to pay my respects to Talia before I left, I regretted not doing so before." Deucalion said, his tone sincere, and his heartbeat matching, the remorse was there. "Peter's scent was there, and the unmistakable scent of death, mixed with winter and ash." the Alpha said as he looked Deaton face to face. "Believe me if I weren't certain I would have waited a bit more patiently and gathered more evidence, but I have no doubt of what is going on here." he added before glancing down toward the ground. "I'm not about to see that disgrace rise from the dead, I am determined to ensure he stays dead, and with any luck can be sent back to whichever circle of hell he climbed out of."

"Maybe it's the one you're from." Stiles said garnering a slow appraisal from Deucalion. "What, you call yourself the Demon-wolf and you expect people not to make hell jokes around you?" Stiles asked only to have the Alpha shake his head resignedly.

"You know sometimes Mr. Stilinski I'm amazed you've lived for as long as you have with that mouth of yours." Deucalion said. There was no threat in his voice, it sounded like a legitimate statement.

"What can I say, people just like to listen to me talk." Stiles added before Derek was leaning in and kissing the young man again. "Okay so maybe there are times that not talking is a good thing." he said in response to the romantic gesture to which Derek chuckled and the Alpha in the room smirked, even getting a fond grin from Deaton.

"Seems a smart match, the man who doesn't talk, and the one who talks too much." Deucalion said with a chuckle of his own, getting a rueful look from Stiles that faded into a defeated smirk and a nod of his head.

"Okay, you got me on that one." Stiles admitted before hopping down from his perch and returning to his book.


	11. Mixed Magics

As Stiles resumed his research Derek took the time to read up along with him, taking into account everything the druid in training was looking over, discussing how best to get the other folks to implement things. While this was going on Deucalion and Alan had moved back into the reception area to talk.

"I trust that you will tell him more about his mother in time." Deucalion said as he turned to face the druid. "She would want to be sure that her son took after her." he added when the other closed the exam room door behind him.

"All in time, right now it would be a bit too much of a shock if it was just dropped on him that this was destined to happen from the beginning." Deaton replied softly.

Deucalion nodded before glancing back to the other room where the couple was still delving through the old druidic tome. "Do you think what they have will last Alan?" he asked, genuine concern etched into every syllable.

Alan smiled slightly as he nodded his head. "I can honestly say that's one bond I have no fear of being broken. István may be strong, but he has always had a knack for underestimating those he goes up against. Cora, Derek, their cousin, they are still a pack and still strong enough to handle things should Peter come seeking trouble. As for Scott's pack, the majority are Alphas in their own right, with the exception of Isaac. They've all found their anchors, they've all found that point that they can hold firm to keep them from losing themselves." Alan added as he took a seat behind the front desk.

"I somehow doubt Stiles understands just how essential he is to the stability of this area, he's not just any anchor, he's been an anchor to werewolves, banshees, humans, he has an unusual talent for keep people from losing themselves in general, even though in the process it may keep him from realizing who he is." Deucalion replied. "Don't get me wrong, I admire the fact that he puts himself out there in order to support those he cares for, but it shouldn't be at the sacrifice of his own identity."

Alan raised his hand to still the Alpha's mind before smiling more warmly. "Believe me, Stiles may have a focus on some many things at once, but not once has he lost sight of himself. I doubt many people can understand the benefit of his ADHD, but it allows him that blessing of having his attention pulled in so many directions while not losing himself." Alan said softly.

Deucalion pondered over the druid's words for a moment while giving a conceding nod of his head. "If I am thankful for anything it is that I was stopped before I did any more damage than I already have." the Alpha said before looking up with a genuinely remorse filled expression on his face as he looked up at Alan. "Take care of them, and to send my apologies to Marin, I'd give them in person though I have a feeling I'd end up with a lovely cocktail of wolfsbane, mountain ash and mistletoe if I did." he added with a wry smirk before making his way out of the building.

Derek and Stiles were actually fairly thankful for the chance at some level of privacy for the moment, returning to the kiss that was interrupted by Deucalion walking in the room and souring the mood. The book had been largely neglected once the druid and Alpha had left the room, the pair taking time to discuss how they were going to work things out between school, druid training, lacrosse, and still manage to have time together. They'd arrived at the conclusion that Stiles would spend the days that he didn't have lacrosse practice with Scott, Isaac and Deaton at the clinic to keep researching, though for the time being he figured he was set with what he'd learned. Salt, lavender, dragon's blood, sage, garlic, certain stones as well, hematite, quarts, lapis lazuli, half the things listed he knew how to get a hold of and some of the others he was sure he'd find online. Evenings seemed to be the best for Derek and Stiles to spend time together where weekends would be full of studying over at the loft with Al to help Stiles practice things out.

"Well I think that settles that then." Stiles said closing the book once more and heading out the exam room door to the front desk and handing it over to Alan. "I'll be back on the days I don't have to deal with lacrosse." Stiles said as he held the book out.

Alan simply shook his head. "No need for that keep that book, I've read through it enough times to have it devoted to memory, keep it with you, you'll be able to study during free periods in school that way. Speak with Ms. Morrell as well, she may be able to help you find more time to work with, or at least give you a place to study where people won't be harassing you to figure out what you're reading." the druid replied softly as he pressed the book back toward Stiles. "I am glad that the two of you have discussed how best to spend your time, it's good to see it when people take responsibility seriously."

"Yeah, well I figured the sooner we got this started the sooner I could keep my friends and family from becoming strigoi puppets." Stiles said a bit bluntly, though the weird marionette motion he made with his free hand got a chortle out of the werewolf behind him. "I'll be spending as much time as I can with Derek because I'd rather not have things start and then not get any time with him. Then on weekends I'll be doing druid practice at the loft with Al to help me test things out." Stiles added as he felt Derek walk up behind him and wrap his arms around him.

"I don't mean to intrude on that, but if I could get access as well to these practices it may help to have a druid with some experience to help clear things up if anything goes wrong…and believe me Stiles, it will the first time." Alan said as he thought back to his own training and what a mixed bag of events that was.

"I'll talk to Álmos and see about setting things up, I doubt he'd ban you from the loft." Derek said over Stile's shoulder as he looked out the window, think of everything that was going on was making it harder for him to focus on the moment at hand.

"Considering I technically answer to him as the Alpha of the Hale pack I should hope not." Deaton said with a smirk before he got up as a patient was brought in. "Well you two it seems I have someone with a bit more pressing needs he said as a woman came in with what both Stiles and Derek could have sworn was a giant rat, but in reality was just one very unpleasant looking yappy dog.

"Thanks again Deaton, I'll be over with Scott Tuesday night to start work on that research paper." Stiles said to keep up the appearance of this being a normal visit. Alan nodded in appreciation and let them out the front door before returning to his patient.

As the pair left they took one another's hands the patron passing by giving the pair a strange look only to have Derek stare back coldly as though asking for a reason to knock them out. The pet owner simply averted his gaze and kept moving into the building leaving the two behind. Stiles simply smirked and squeezed the older male's hand before getting into his jeep and driving himself and Derek back to his home. His father's cruiser was in the driveway and so Stiles figured they'd not be getting any more privacy that night.

"You wanna come in babe? He's probably fixed something, or ordered out, there should be plenty." Stiles said as he parked on the other side of his father's vehicle, not wanting to box the police vehicle in.

"As much as I want to I should get back to see just how much I'm going to have to repay Álmos for, my sister could put a dent in Donald Trump's wallet." Derek said with a sigh before looking back over to his mate, his expression yearning but falling, as he knew he would have to go. Stiles nodded, he didn't like the answer, but he understood all the same. "In that case wait here a bit." Stiles said as he went inside leaving Derek behind in his jeep, wondering what the teen could possibly be doing.

"Hey there dad, I'm back from Deaton's, I…" Stiles began before nearly colliding with his father rounded the corner still in uniform. "Okay…double shift then?" he asked see his father strap his belt on and holster. His father nodded in reply.

"Sorry kiddo, Monroe is on vacation this week so they asked me to fill in some more." the sheriff replied as he headed out toward the door. "I'm guessing you went to ask for advice on the whole Peter deal, I'll catch up with you tomorrow after school okay?" John asked as he turned to face his son.

"Yeah, yeah that's fine, but dad, I'm going to see if I can stay the night with Derek at the loft, that okay?" he asked as he saw his father move off to the door.

The sheriff froze and turned for a bit, face growing a bit more serious as he went over the request in his head and tried to weigh everything out. He knew that Derek wouldn't get much of anything with a nosy sister around to interrupt things if they got too heavy. He figured Álmos would probably frown on anything going on that was too elicit as well so he looked at his son and nodded his head. "Okay, you can go, but make sure you're not late for school tomorrow, it's a school night, so no all-nighters. Dinner is on the stove, be sure to bring some with you and don't forget your Adderall. Pack some clean clothes, they're in the laundry room, I don't want the kids in school thinking I'm letting you slack off." John listed off. "Other than that just stay safe okay?" the sheriff asked before a beaming Stiles jumped and hugged his father.

"Yes, a hundred times yes, you're awesome dad." Stiles said squeezing his father before rushing upstairs and immediately beginning to pack up some clean clothes, his backpack, his meds, everything he'd need for tomorrow. By the time he got back downstairs and grabbed his keys and some food to bring with him his father was gone. He locked the door behind him after shutting the lights off in the unused rooms and made his way back to the jeep, grinning fondly at Derek. "You heard everything?" Stiles asked, getting a nod from Derek and a small smirk. "Good, I just hope you're okay with this."

"I hope you don't mind sharing a twin mattress." Derek said with a grin as he looked out his window into the night sky, the stars poking out steadily. "I'm going to work on getting something better eventually, but for now I don't want to change much up." Derek added as they drove off to the loft. "What made you so eager to stay with me tonight?" the werewolf asked as he turned to face the driver.

"Do I need to have a motive other than the fact that I love you and I want to spend our first official night together…well…together?" Stiles asked as they continued their way to the loft.

Derek chuckled a little. "No, I guess not, just didn't see this coming is all. Now you realize there won't be anything too physical right?" Derek asked as they hit the half way mark between the two homes. "Not with Cora listening in and everything, and certainly not with my cousin there, not sure I'd be terribly comfortable with him listening in."

"Heh, no, we're good babe, I didn't expect anything anyway, and if I had I would have stopped off at the store on the way here and had you buy some lube." Stiles teased as he reached over and nudged Derek gently.

Derek shook his head and smiled before looking over at the face of the man he was still slapping himself mentally for not realizing he cared this much for sooner. The moon was out and the sliver visible was still bright enough to light up Stiles' pale features.

"What? Do I have an extra mole all of a sudden?" Stiles asked as he checked himself out in the rear-view mirror.

"No, I'm just mentally stabbing myself in the kidneys for not realizing how attractive you are." Derek said, as he kept looking slowly breaking eye contact with the younger man's face to look back at the road as they pulled up into the part of town where the loft was. "So you really don't mind sharing a twin mattress?" he asked as they rounded the corner to the last stretch.

"Hey, it gives me an excuse to be even closer to you doesn't it?" Stiles asked as he reached over and took Derek's hand in his own. Derek responded by nodding and bringing Stiles' hand to his lips.

When they finally reached the loft they once again saw Álmos coming out, followed by Cora as they waved smoke out of their faces. Derek rushed out immediately as Stiles skidded to a stop in front of the loft.

"What happened? Is everything okay? Why does everything smell…" Derek began as he sniffed the air, "like burnt bacon?" Derek asked his eyes drawing thin as his overreaction turned to frustration as he looked at his sister who immediately tried to use Álmos as a shield.

"Hey, he's the one who trusted me to help him cook dinner, you know that I was never good at it." Cora said in her defense.

"Ne használjon engem, mint egy pajzs, kölyök!" Álmos said as he sidestepped the young woman trying to stay behind him. "Derek I swear if I had known this one was as bad with cooking as she is with table manners I would never have let her anywhere near the kitchen." the elder wolf said as he motioned for Derek to go ahead and reprimand Cora as he saw fit.

"Cora, five minute head start." Derek said as he stretched out his arms and legs and snapped the tension out of his neck. Cora's eyes went wide and immediately she bolted for the depths of old manufacturing district of the town. Derek watched and once he could tell they were in the clear began laughing. "Never gets old, I'll chase her down later, for now let's air the place out and help Stiles get settled in for the night, hope you don't mind him staying." Derek said as he looked to Álmos. The older werewolf just shrugged and helped Stiles and everyone inside.

"Do you always make her run away with her tail tucked between her legs like that?" Álmos asked as he got them up and set up in Derek's room.

"Only when she nearly burns a place to the ground." Derek said, the point being made very clear in that statement. Derek had already lost one home to fire, he didn't want to lose another one.

"That I can understand, oh, and as much as we had planned to by her new clothes, I swear that girl could cause every saint that has ever been named to give up on patience. Even the dead who have nothing but time would have no patience for her." Álmos complained before he sat down in the little comfy nook he had set up.

"I know, I swear the only person who could get her to get anything was mom, then again she'd cheat and use her Alpha powers to push things." Derek said as he waited for Stiles to come back down from his room upstairs. He saw him walking down in a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a short-sleeved white t-shirt and a pair of slippers, red with a yellow lightning bolt on each one. Derek raised a brow as he saw them descend the stairs.

"What? They were on sale, and, I mean, come on The Flash is meant for footwear." Stiles replied as he followed Derek's eyes down to his feet and then up as he shrugged. "Hey, um, shouldn't you be out getting…" Stiles began to ask before he heard a loud peel of thunder followed by the sound of rain coming down. Stiles just let his mouth flap a bit before closing it.

A loud knock came from the door as Derek moved over to it only to see Cora standing there dripping wet from the downpour outside. "I hate you." she coldly before stomping her way to the bathroom to ring out her clothes out and get a towel before stopping u the stairs to get changed.

"Ah, sibling affection." Álmos said clapping his hands together as he chuckled. "Well, it is getting late, and I've still not eaten, so, pizza? Or do we want me to try to salvage our dishes?" he asked the other two.

"Pizza." came all of the collected voices, including Cora's from over the railing. Álmos nodded and called it in, two meat lovers and one supreme, stuffed crust.

At about the same time as the pizza was arriving at Álmos' new home Howard had finally arrived home, the storm still rumbling through as he walked inside to see Melissa walking into the hall from the kitchen and stopping short as she saw him there, looking a bit neutral until she saw his pull the box of bullets out of his coat pocket. Even then she just rolled her eyes and turned back toward the kitchen. Howard followed along with a sigh as he put the bullets back into his pocket and followed Melissa into the kitchen.

"Okay, what did I do this time?" Howard asked as he got into the kitchen and saw the fact that Melissa must have just finished fixing dinner, a pot roast, with potatoes, onions, carrots, the usual back when they had been together more.

"You mean aside from making Scott think you hate him, gee Howard I don't know." Melissa said as he began setting the table.

"Shit." Howard said dismally, getting the same look on his face that Scott would get when he'd done something to screw up, he then sat leaned against the frame of the entryway and banged his head against it. "I'm going upstairs, I'm going upstairs and I'm apologizing and I'm going to beg him to forgive me for being the world's worst father." Howard added as he began to march his way back down the hall and up the stair until he was in his son's room, looking at him as he saw him sit up in his bed and look at him.

"I heard what you said." Scott said softly as he looked into his father's eyes, his own still a little red from his earlier crying.

"Scott…I don't know how many times I have to say it, but I will keep saying I'm sorry until I'm buried six feet under if that's what it takes." Howard said as his own set of tears began to build in his eyes and then spill over. "I'm so sorry for everything I've done…I don't hate you Scott, please, don't ever think that." Howard said, his heart pounding out the truth behind his words, as well as the agonizing levels of self-loathing the older man had.

Scott got up from his bed and began to make his way over to his father, once he was in front of him he looked into his father's face and saw his tears streaming down, tears just like the ones he'd had coming down his face earlier. He then pulled his father into a firm hug just as his father began to shake from his sobs. "It's okay dad, it's okay." Scott said, joining in with some tears of his own. The two eventually parted, Howard with a few coughs as he tried to reel in his emotions again, and Scott with a few pats of his father's back before they looked at one another again.

"I love you son, I'm not going to lie and say that this is easy to get used to, I don't think it's possible for anyone to adjust overnight, but I still love you." Howard said as he held his son by the shoulders and looked firmly down at him.

"I love you too dad. Now, um, can we go eat, mom's been asking for us to get down there for a while now." Scott replied with a smirk as he heard his mother coming up the stairs only to see them still standing there.

"Okay boys, come on, big boy pants back on and let's go eat." Melissa said getting a few chuckles from both men as they descended down to the kitchen for dinner, Melissa with a warm smile that now the two men of her life were back on good terms and those same two men for the food they were about to get. However if Melissa had known their reasons she would have likely smacked them both with the spoon still in her hand.

Dinner was also served at the Smucz-Hale or Hale-Smucz residence as the pizzas finally arrived, all three being demolished in no time. Though Stiles arteries would likely hate him in the future he was happy and full on a mix of both kinds that they ordered. Cora looked pleased as well despite her unintentional shower earlier, Álmos was now happily playing what appeared to be a mandolin, and Derek was holding the now stuffed Stiles on his lap as they listened to him play, the flames of the candles swaying back and forth gently to the soothing melody. Once Álmos finished the candles slowly began going out and he stood up.

"Alright, time for sleep." the gypsy wolf said softly as he got up to the nearly asleep trio before him. "Come on now off to bed with all of you." Álmos added shooing them off the beanbags and up to their beds.

Stiles and Derek would actually have two in their room, pushed together to give them more space if they needed, Álmos had taken to doing that much so that they wouldn't be too uncomfortable. Cora got up and stumbled up the stairs to her room dropping down on the bed and passing out almost on the spot. Derek and Stiles were a bit slower on their ascent, mostly because Stiles was being carried koala-style up the stairs because he was feeling "too full and sleepy to walk". Derek didn't mind one bit though as he hoisted him up the steps and to his room. It wasn't long before Stiles' phone alarm was set and the pair were laid down on their makeshift double bed snuggling into one another, just as Stiles was about to fall asleep though he immediately snapped back to attention and bolted downstairs to see Álmos standing, looking out one of the windows at the stars outside.

"Almos, I wanted to give you something before I went to bed." Stiles said before taking out a piece of paper and drawing down a symbol he'd memorized from the book, a series of loops and lines that formed an ornate knot-work pattern. "It's a shield knot, should keep you safe if you keep it on you." Stiles said as he folded the rest of the paper so that the knot was the only thing showing.

"Are you an Emissary?" Álmos asked as he picked up the symbol from the table and tucked it into a small pouch on his belt.

"In training, but yeah, I guess you could say that." Stiles said. "But yeah, keep that on you, maybe even find a way to get a pendant, should keep things from being able to latch on." Stiles added before leaving with a smile and heading back upstairs to use Derek's chest as a pillow.

Álmos simply looked down at the symbol and traced it with his finger, charging it with his own power and mingling it with that of the druid in trainings own. "And now it will keep you safe as well Mr. Stilinski." the gypsy wolf said as the pattern faded from the paper and an identical one formed over each window and door of the building. Álmos smiled then and turned in as well, silently thanking the young man who had given him yet another layer of protection against his grandfather's minions.


	12. My Lord What Fools These Mortals Be

The following morning was met with the smell of sausages and toast cooking downstairs as well as what seemed to be freshly squeezed orange juice as the trio made their way downstairs to the small dining area Álmos had set up. Each was set up slightly different, one had an tiger lily in a small vase beside one of them, another had a rather stoic wolf statue beside it, staring at the stairs with blue eyes, and finally a deer antler lay beside the other, inscribed with intricate knot-work patterns.

"Breakfast is served." Álmos said as he served up some sausage, eggs and toast and on each plate, enjoying the feeling of having time to feed his family and guest. "Then it's off to school for Stiles."

"Speaking of which I'm driving you." Derek said as he sat down at the plate with the wolf statue, beginning to dig in.

"I'm more than capable of driving Derek." Stiles said but he figured he understood Derek's reasoning behind it. "You just want an excuse to pick me up after lacrosse practice." the teen said as he smiled across the table, taking the seat with the engraved stag horn.

"As if that weren't obvious." Cora said with a fresh wave of grumpy morning sarcasm as she took the remaining seat. Stiles had to be careful or she'd take his place as the sarcasm expert.

"And the award for the most sarcastic female lead in a drama goes to, drum roll please?" Stiles said Álmos obliging as Derek smiled. "Cora Hale, Cora would you please come accept your award?" Stiles continued saying with a smirk.

Cora wanted to glare at him, wanted to hate the very air the boy was breathing, but even she had to admit that Stiles had gotten her good on that one. "Okay Derek, I want to kill him a little less now." Cora said as he began to eat her breakfast steadily as Stiles seemed to be the only one wolfing his down. Then again he was accustomed to eating faster, waking up later, the rush from bed to school being a pain. He wasn't used to this early morning deal, then again he wasn't used to sleeping as well as he had last night. Turned out Derek's chest was the best pillow ever, and that steady heartbeat was the most soothing lullaby he could think of.

Once he was done with that he rushed back upstairs to grab his clothes, a towel, pretty much everything he'd brought with him to get ready for school today. He hopped into the shower, once he got downstairs and got to the bathroom, doing a quick once over before getting dressed, popping an Adderall and making his way out to Derek's Camaro which was now purring out in front of the loft. Derek rolled the windows down and had one arm resting on the side of the car, his sunglasses on and a smile on his face.

"You ready babe?" Derek asked as he tilted his sunglasses down enough, his smiling growing wider as he peered at the young man approaching.

"You know there should be laws against excessive attractiveness, I swear to god." Stiles said, leaning in and kissing Derek before going around to the passenger side and climbing in, sticking his own arm out the window as they went to the school. The twins had already arrived, Ethan was hanging out near their bikes talking to Danny, Aiden seemed to be waiting for Lydia still. Scott was there and shaking his head as he saw the Camaro and saw Stiles waving excitedly from his side before Derek stopped and let him out. Allison saw the car and as soon as she did she balked at it, she had been caught off guard when Isaac had told her that Derek was back, but to see him just come by and drop Stiles off, and was Derek smiling? Now she'd seen it all. The last person to really register what was going on was the pale, strawberry blonde now stepping out of her car, and as she saw Stiles' lips pressed to Derek's in a regrettable parting kiss her jaw simply dropped, along with Danny's which was accompanied by a somewhat confused expression.

The pale female made her way over to Stiles once Derek had driven off, her heels clicking loudly on the pavement on his way over. "Okay since when are you and Mr. Broody an item, since when does he smile, and how long has he been back?" Lydia asked as she began interrogating Stiles, Danny coming over looking for answers as well.

"Did I just see you kissing your cousin Miguel?" Danny asked as he looked off in the direction that Derek had left before looking back to Stiles.

"Okay, first off, I lied, he's not my cousin, I was just covering for him while he was hiding from the cops. Long story I'll tell you more later." Stiles said to Danny whose eyes seemed to be threatening to bug out of his head. "He's been back since Friday night, I've been seeing him officially since yesterday and he smiles because I smile, we're that sickeningly adorable." Stiles said as he faced down Lydia who closed her mouth, lifted her chin a little and nodded at the short and concise answer she was given.

"You know Stiles I think that's the most straightforward answer you've ever given me." Lydia said as she gave him a small smile before walking her way over to Aiden and once again attaching the seemingly invisible leash she led him around by every day.

"So he's not you cousin." Danny said still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he'd just seen Stiles kiss the same smoking hot individual that he'd previously used to coerce him to hack out the location of where a particular text had originated. Stiles simply shook his head to the negative. "So you just used him to coerce me?" Stiles nodded in response to that question. "Which means when you were asking me if you were attractive to gay guys you were asking because of him?" Danny asked and this time Stiles spoke up.

"Actually at that time no, that was just simple curiosity. However as it would turn out I don't feel like I need to hear that answer anymore." Stiles said smugly with a smirk.

"Well I'd be jealous if it weren't for Ethan." Danny replied as he nudged Stiles and the group began filing their way into the school. The lot of them all finding the sudden revelation of Derek and Stiles being together a total shocker, most of all Allison who would have never guessed that Stiles, the person who had threatened Derek right back for every time Derek had threatened him would cave for him. Then again she'd still figured Derek for a murderer and figured he'd make good on his threats. Wrong on both counts it seemed.

Lydia however had figured that something was up when she began piecing things together, that remarkable brain of hers working flawlessly as usual. All the times Stiles had saved Derek, the times Derek had saved Stiles, the banter between them, the fact that they didn't seem to have any issues invading personal space. Then there was the fact that both of them had watched as someone they cared about had slowly died, both had lost friends and family so it was only natural that they would connect. The night at the loft after the Alpha's had attacked…okay so she'd dragged more information out of Aiden than Aiden had ever gotten from her, but he'd rushed right over to Derek, trying to be there for him. However it wasn't until Derek had left that she'd realized how much the brooding twenty-something year old meant to Stiles. Even the kiss she'd given him hadn't been quite what she'd expected. She expected him to get much more into it than they had, expected him to capitalize on the opportunity, she was honestly relieved when he didn't because she figured Aiden would have torn his head off if he had. But given the history the two had together, Derek and Stiles almost seemed too perfect for her to have not realized it sooner.

"You know Stiles I really should have tried pushing you two together sooner, it probably would have saved a lot of us some trouble." the strawberry blonde said as he leaned against the lockers beside him. "Seriously having him not grumping about the way he did all the time may have saved us all a lot of stress." she teased as she lingered Aiden looking around impatiently almost as they stood there.

"Maybe, maybe not, to be honest I'm glad there wasn't any pushing or anything, just happened more naturally this way." Stiles said, a fond gleam in his eyes as he though about last night, listening to Derek's heart beat steadily under his head as he traced small little loops over his stomach on top of the shirt Derek insisted on wearing. Then again there was a slight draft in his room, something Stiles was going to see about fixing at some point, otherwise winter was going to be miserable.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen that look on you before, not even when you used to think about me." Lydia said with a look of genuine surprise on her face. "This is serious isn't it?" she asked, surprised.

Stiles just blushed a little and shrugged. "It is what it is, I'm not going to try giving it a label. All I know is I don't think I've ever been so sure about anything in my life." Stiles replied before beginning his trek to the first class of the day, history, and with a new teacher, it was going to be tricky. "Oh, right, before we get much further I wanted to give you all something." he said as he walked over to the pair and handed them two more shield knots he'd drawn earlier that day.

"And what are these for?" Aiden asked taking a hold of the drawing and appraising it before feeling a slight jolt to his system. "Holy shit what was that?" he asked nearly dropping the image only to see it now like a birthmark on his palm. "Stiles what the hell is this thing?"

"Relax, it's a Celtic shield knot, if anything you should be thanking me, it should keep anything nasty from trying to latch onto you like Álmos mentioned could happen." Stiles said. "The last thing we need is for you or your brother getting possessed and either killing yourselves or going on a killing spree." the druid in training said.

"Is this really necessary?" Aiden asked, wanting to avoid dealing with any overly complicated questions.

"Just tell people you tried getting a henna tattoo." Lydia said as she took her own knot and took Aiden's hand. "If Stiles is going out of his way to do something it's usually a good idea to just go with it." she added to which Stiles smirked and Aiden sighed.

"Okay, fine, do you have one for Ethan? I can go give it to him after this class is over and then you can get Scott and Isaac theirs during lunch?" Aiden suggested. The wait between then and lunch though was something Stiles would rather avoid however.

"Or he could ask Ms. Morrell to pass them out after each counseling session she has today. Or did you forget that we were all given three weeks of mandatory counseling after the entire situation with the Darach?" Lydia asked and to which Stiles smacked his forehead.

"In that case since you're going in first do you want to take these and hand them over to her?" Stiles said as he pulled out four more of the knots.

"There are four here." Lydia said as she took them. "Why are there only four?" she added as she looked skeptically at Stiles.

"Allison, Ethan, Scott and Isaac, should cover those of us who have faced down death a few times." Stiles replied. "I'd make one for Danny but I swear that guy is good luck wrapped in all that Hawaiian awesomeness. I mean he's survived Kanima Jackson, the Darach, he's dealt with full moon Scott ramming into him, besides anything that did try to go after him I'm fairly certain Ethan would turn into strigoi confetti."

Aiden nodded his head and Lydia did one of her typical head bobs "Fair enough, I'll see you all at lunch then?" she asked rhetorically considering she turned and didn't wait for a response.

"Well that certainly hasn't changed any." Stiles said shaking his head as he made his way to history class following Lydia and Aiden in and taking his usual seat somewhere in the middle back of the room, not out of sight, but not in direct sight, while not looking like he was actively avoiding being seen. He wasn't sure what this new teacher was going to be like, he was just praying that this teacher wasn't going to turn out to be some other supernatural being out to kill them all. Based on the look on Aiden's face the person was human, which certainly gave the teens a sigh of relief as Aiden gave them a look they'd developed for an all clear. The new teacher however was as dull as they got, even Ben Stein was more exciting than this guy, and by the end of the class several people had been written up for detention for falling asleep in class. Stiles stayed up if only because his ADHD kept him focusing on something interesting even if it wasn't the history of the Holy Roman Empire. Lydia had taken notes, no surprise there and Aiden had been resisting the urge to crack his desk in half with his head. As they left he let out a groan of sheer frustration.

"Oh my god that class could not have been more boring, I swear to god if they don't find someone else on a more permanent basis I'm going to kill something." Aiden said as he just marched away from the room.

"Okay, as strange as this is I agree with the homicidal maniac here." Stiles said with Lydia simply shaking her head with an amused smile on her face.

"If either of you plan on killing him you don't get access to my notes, just a warning in advance." she said walking by them to her next class, likely advanced algebra or something. "I'll see you later." the alabaster goddess said leaving a kiss on Aiden's lips before heading off again.

"Remind me how I lucked out and landed her?" Aiden asked as he stood there a moment gloating over his girlfriend.

"Easy, the love of her life was forced to move to London." Stiles said bluntly earning him a glare from the werewolf and a low growl. "Hey, I never said she didn't like you, just saying if Jackson were still here you'd have some competition." Stiles added with a shrug, Aiden simply leaving in a huff, his ego wounded. "Hey, before you get all grumpy, if it helps, you're twice the werewolf Jackson ever was…especially when you do your wonder-twin trick with your brother." Stiles whispered, just loud enough for Aiden to hear, which he did, but he couldn't deny that Stiles' veiled compliment was still funny. Ethan however as he walked up behind Stiles was laughing openly.

"Okay, careful there Stiles, I know you're Derek's mate and everything, but you push Aiden too far I'm not going to hold him back." the second part of the wonder-twin duo said clapping his hand on Stiles' shoulder.

"He knows I'm just joking, seriously, you guys don't have to be so serious all the time." the teen said as he turned to enter the English room, there were still minute flecks of crow blood here and there and the occasional bits of feather that could be found kicked up by a slight breeze, a reminder of his the school hear had started. As they entered they saw someone who seemed far too exuberant for an English teacher.

The long, wavy, red hair that danced down to just passed her shoulders framed an older bet admirably well kept face, her eyes half obscured by a pair of half-moon glasses that seemed to have a near blue tint to them, an assortment of bracelets and bangles adorned her wrists and the vibrant tunic she wore coupled with the peasant skirt that flowed comfortably from her waist made her look like she'd get along well with their gypsy acquaintance. The few wrinkles that graced her face showed that he had a rather enjoyable life, no frown-lines or the like, most made from years of laughter and joy. She was definitely a nice change to the last teacher they had. However as Ethan stepped in he stalled a moment drawing in a deep breath before his eyes flashed red momentarily before he went to sit beside Stiles giving him the 'not human' look.

The middle-aged woman raised a bell-sleeved arm into the air, stilling the chatter of the room before she moved to the board, moving gracefully, so much in fact that if it hadn't been for the click of her heels on the floor Stiles would have sworn she'd been gliding. "Good morning class I am your new teacher Mrs. Lake, judging by the looks on some of your faces this is scarcely your favorite of educational subjects, that or you just had to deal with Mr. Jennings in World History, regardless I strive to make this an enjoyable experience for all of you. Or so be it may the ceiling fall down on me right now." the instructor said before suddenly shielding her head as though expecting a sudden collapse, causing several of the students to begin cracking up. As she straightened back up she smiled at them, her smile holding that same sort of soothing quality that Al's did. "Well seeing as I do not seem to be a teacher pancake let's get down to business shall we? Now last I noticed we were on Ms. Blake's syllabus, going over the story "Heart of Darkness" by our good friend Mr. Joseph Conrad. That however seems a bit to heavily negative in the sheer connotation of the events lately, so I would like for us to switch over to something a bit more on the light side of things." Lake said as he pointed to a stack of books on the table. "These will be our new story of choice, or rather play. When met with tragedy one must counter it with comedy, so do the laws of drama work." she added as she began handing out the books one by one.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream?" Allison asked from the back of the room as she noted the title. Stiles had nearly forgotten she'd be there. "I thought that we were supposed read Macbeth?" the young huntress asked further as she looked up at the instructor.

"After having had a long discussion with the school board concerning recent events they have agreed to amend the curriculum to accommodate a comedy in lieu of another tragedy. They agreed that death should be the furthest thing from your minds right now, and I can only agree. You are all young, none of you should have to worry about the things that have been thrust onto your lives over the passed two years." Lake said, earning a few snickers from the back of the class. "Right, well at least I know the people who will be reading for the fairies and Bottom." Lake said as she spied the snickering men in the back of the room, making her way over. "Though I seldom speak ill of anyone, I believe a little maturity, and perhaps humility would do you all best." she added. "Now, what can you all tell me of Shakespeare and his comedies?" the teacher inquired as he hoisted herself to perch on her desk and eyed the classroom.

By the time English had ended the class had all been assigned roles, all of them fairly excited about it, despite the fact that some women were playing men and some men women. Mrs. Lake's explanation that in Elizabethan England women were prohibited from performing had actually driven some of the girls to jump at the chance at playing men, if only because back then men would have been playing women. Allison had been placed as Demetrius, one of the mismatched lovers, Ethan was Egeus, and Stiles had been assigned as Puck, a role he wasn't quite so sure he could pull off, but was eager to try a hand at.

"So am I the only one who thinks Mrs. Lake is awesome?" Stiles asked as they left the room. "Like seriously she's Teacher of the Year material I swear." Stiles the dubbed Puck stammered out.

"Do I need to remind you she's not human?" Ethan replied causing Allison to stop dead in her tracks.

"What do you mean not human?" Allison asked point blank before Ethan froze and Stiles began acting all awkward. "She's right behind me isn't she?" all she got in reply was a stiff nod from Ethan and an averted gaze from Stiles.

"Now, now no need to get all apprehensive, now who is it here that isn't human, because the way I see it only two people here are." Mrs. Lake said as she squinted her eyes a little looking about the three teenagers. "You, my good Egeus, I take it that acute little sniffer of yours found me out, well, yes, you're right, I'm not human, but nor am I _not_ human. I'm as much so as your good friend Ms. Martin. You know she trains that voice some and every fae within one hundred miles will hear those pipes of hers." the fiery headed woman said as she tapped her chin idly with a well manicured finger.

"Fae, as in fairy? As in tiny little fluttery people who like to pull pranks on people and make life crazy fae?" Stiles asked as he began remembering what it was he'd read in his book about certain fae in the book Deaton had given him.

"No, I mean fae as in the overwhelmingly flamboyant and _fabulous_." Lake replied with a playful bit of sarcasm. "Yes, fae as in the fair folk from whom I am an ambassador. You three have been caught up in quite the mess, as of late, don't think you've gone unnoticed." Lake added with a small smile. "But I digress, off to your next classes, if you wish to speak more on these matters we have plenty of time in the future." she added them shooing them off to their next class.

"Okay, still the most epic teacher ever." Stiles said as he smiled, Ethan feeling a bit exposed and Allison a bit humiliated at having dropped her guard that easily around an non-human and a possible threat.

"Yes, but why is it we've had two supernatural English teachers in a row? Am I detecting a pattern?" Allison asked as they made their way to Chemistry yet another substitute filling in there, though at least this one seemed to know what she was doing, albeit she seemed a bit stressed. Overall the class went well though and they left still with that same buzz from Mrs. Lake' s class. Once lunch came around they once again found their table packed, the couples gathered, Danny and Ethan, Aidan and Lydia, leaving Stiles, Allison, Scott and Isaac in their own little corners, Allison beside Lydia and across from Isaac who she tried valiantly to avoid eye contact with, and Scott across from Stiles while sitting beside Ethan.

"So English was fun today." Stiles said breaking the initial silence and breaking the twins out of the near make-out sessions they were heading toward. It seemed to do the trick as almost everyone at the table started talking things out over it, it was crazy that they had a teacher who didn't even try to hide the fact that she wasn't human from them, Scott it seemed had nailed Oberon as a role, Lydia was Titania (no shock there) while Aiden was being pushed into playing Hermia and Isaac was set to portray Snug, Stiles blamed it on the curly blonde hair since Snug also played the lion in the play within the play.

"That is some plain Inception stuff right there, a play within a play." Danny said as he began to eat some of the half a sub he'd gotten for lunch enjoying to chance to be at a table with his boyfriend, his boyfriend's brother, his best friend's ex-girlfriend, and three of his lacrosse buddies. Lunch kept going all well and good until Aiden's eyes snapped to Lydia as she began to tense up, and before either of them knew what was happening she'd began belting out this shrill shriek that drew attention from everyone in the cafeteria. By the time she'd stopped people had either pulled back, huddled closer, or covered their ears for the four werewolves and the other three humans at the table.

Looking around her Lydia straightened herself out before claiming she saw a spider, good save because it caused a few other girls to scream and jump up into their chairs. But everyone else knew what had happened, there was another death about to happen, and as their eyes went to the window they knew where as the history substitute suddenly dove off the roof of the building onto the pavement, everyone looking in horror as they flocked to the window before running out of the cafeteria.


	13. Something Reeks in Beacon Hills

The faculty had their hands full as they ushered the students to classrooms as the police made their way into the building, John immediately sought his son out and even Howard showed up, figuring that maybe there was another serial killer on the loose. But he still wanted to make sure Scott was okay, the two older men had Stiles and Scott along with the rest of the table off to the side.

"Do any of you know what happened?" John asked, figuring if this were supernatural maybe one of them would have noticed something going on. But none of them could figure out what was going on at all, everything had been fine today, and the teacher, aside from seeming to have the energy of a burnt out light-bulb, had shown no indications of what was about to happen. "If you can think of anything, please tell me kids, I want a leg up on this if it does turn out to be out of the ordinary okay?" John added before getting a series of serious nods from the group before leaving.

"What did he mean by out of the ordinary?" Danny asked. "And why did he come over here as though he expected you guys to know what was going on?" Danny added, panic evident in his heartbeat and his eyes as he began going over things in his head. The attack at the club, Jackson disappearing, the events at the hotel, all those times Scott and the other teens he hung out with would be acting all serious, all of these seemingly insignificant things starting to swim in his head.

Ethan could see and practically feel the chaos erupting in his boyfriend's mind and he immediately moved over to him, pulling him close and resting his chin on the other man's shoulder. "Calm down Danny, come on, we can talk afterward, for now we should probably see if they're sending us home to investigate the school more." he said nodding to the rest of the group who moved into the hallway where most of the students were, most at their lockers or in clusters. Another death at the school and now people were in a panic again, the smell of fear permeated the hallways of the school and it was setting the werewolves on edge.

Stiles stopped as he felt his pocket vibrate, pulling out his phone he saw a text from Derek show up, he opened it and read the following:

_-Heard the scream, and the sirens, are you okay? What's going on? Please let me know as soon as you can. - _

The message was urgent, and Stiles responded in turn, telling Derek that there was a death at the school, a teacher jumped from the roof; everyone was okay aside from that. Derek responded with a half relieved half concerned message but assured Stiles he'd still be coming to pick him up. Stiles smiled at that, he'd need Derek right now after what he'd just seen. He was just about to look for his father when he saw Mrs. Lake move her way through the hall, doling out comforting words as she went, even the occasional hug where needed, everyone seemed to relax as she moved by. She stopped once she reached the knot of werewolves, humans and a banshee.

"Are you all doing well?" she asked laying a hand each on Danny and Lydia's shoulders, looking over the werewolves, druid and huntress in the process. She then looked up as she saw Ms. Morrell make her way over, nodding her head in respect to the Emissary, as she got closer.

"Vivian, thank you for helping, I appreciate it, could you make your way to the front doors, I'd like the students to be able to leave with their minds off of this." the raven-haired counselor requested to which Mrs. Lake bowed her head.

"Not at all a problem Marin, I just wanted to be sure everyone here was okay." Vivian said gently squeezing Danny's shoulder and letting go of Lydia's with a gentle tap. "They seem to be coping well, I can only assume this is far from their first encounter with death here."

"Let's not dwell on the topic Vivian, the doors please." Marin said trying to break the fae of her focus on the eight teenagers here. Vivian nodded again and began her graceful departure to the front doors. "We will be releasing you all early today, the police will need to search the school for chemical leaks, possible suspects, they can rule out other staff and students due to the security cameras Gerard had installed. But that doesn't mean someone else couldn't have been here." Marin said as she began explaining the situation to the students around here.

"We saw him on the roof, no one else was up there, he wasn't pushed." Lydia said, her tone short and almost irritated, as though she accused Marin of trying to cover something up.

"That's not to say he couldn't have been coerced." Morrell bit back. "They are also going to look into the possibility that he was suffering from severe depression and anxiety which could have led him to this. I would appreciate it if you didn't pry into the situation, and if you instead focus on your own lives for the time being." the authoritative tone to her voice put a stop to any argument.

The students around her nodded before they began filing out the door and onto buses, and more personal forms of transportation, fleeing what they were now beginning to associate with death instead of education.

True to his word Derek pulled up not long after, but Álmos and Cora had come along with him. As Derek got out of the car Stiles saw Vivian make her way over to the car Álmos stepping out to greet her, it seemed as though they were familiar with one another. Derek kept moving until he was right in front of Stiles and the latter jumped a little as his attention moved back to his boyfriend who seemed to be pulling a Molly Weasley on him by scanning every inch of him to make sure everything was in place. He seemed to relax once he was content everything was as it should be before he pulled Stiles close.

"Seriously this town is going to be the death of me." Derek said as he held Stiles close, running a hand through his hair before gently pulling back from the teen.

"It kinda already tried to babe, you're just too stubborn." Stiles teased as he leaned in and kissed Derek softly.

"Yeah and you actually have died." Derek reminded himself, recalling what he'd heard they'd done in order to find where the nemeton was.

"Oh, that? Please, that totally doesn't count." Stiles started blabbering as he tried changing the topic. "So our English teacher is a fairy, that's cool right?" Stiles asked as he pointed over to where Vivian and Al were engrossed in a deep discussion. It was then that they moved the body over to the ambulance to be brought to the morgue, the inevitable autopsy to come. All of the emergency crew had masks on, and it was easy to tell why, the wind carried over the smell of decay, and sulfur. In that moment Stiles eyes locked onto Derek's before darting to Al's, the latter's a burning ruby red. Derek looked to his cousin and his cousin simply nodded tersely before Vivian raised a hand to his chest and calmed him with a simple touch, whispering something soft to him. Whatever it had been it had seemed to calm all of the werewolves in the vicinity, though Cora still seemed confused.

Seeing his son being held by Derek, and finding the rest of the Hales, minus Peter, at the school John knew something was up. He made his way over to Derek and gently pulled him to the side, offering a gesture to his son to show him it was okay. "I could see the look on yours and your cousin's face, you know what did this didn't you?" he asked as he took Derek to the side, the younger man nodding.

"It's called a strigoi, it's an old European spirit, almost like a demon, it can cause direct damage, or it can try to possess someone, they smell like rot and decay." Álmos said walking up behind the sheriff who turned to face him. "In particular these are likely the spirits of the recent dead, your townspeople sacrificed to the nemeton." Álmos added his rage though contained was still noticeable; he looked more like Derek now that he ever had yet. His eyes were a stormy grey, with small blue flecks, almost like lightning in them. "Your dead no longer rest in peace." the gypsy wolf added as he looked sternly at the sheriff.

"Okay, start talking." Danny said once Ethan and Aiden had brought him back along with Lydia to her parent's home. "I want to know why that guy jumped off the roof, I want to know why you all to know so much more about what's going on than me…I want to know why my best friend ended up moving to London after meeting whoever this Derek guy is. I just want to know what the hell is going on." the tall, tan Hawaiian said as he faced his boyfriend, a determination, almost desperation to his face.

Ethan nodded before looking over to his brother who gave him the go ahead. Ethan then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when he opened them again they were a bright cherry red and his claws had begun to extend, his fangs elongate. He looked up with a shamed expression on his face, and then again with hurt as Danny recoiled and backed away on the couch he was on as he saw his boyfriend and Aiden shift, Lydia seemed almost too calm for this which means she'd already known about this. Was this what they had been getting into? Were they part of some demonic cult or something? Danny's head was spinning out of control and his heart was hammering in his chest. Almost immediately Ethan shifted back as tears began streaming from his eyes.

"I'm…I'm sorry I didn't show you sooner, I'm sorry I didn't tell you Danny." Ethan said as he got up and made to leave the room, Danny's desperation to know what they hell was going on seemed to make him react though as he grabbed Ethan's wrist, that or the tears now freely slipping down the Alpha werewolf's face had snapped something back into place in the maelstrom that was Danny's mind.

"What are you?" Danny asked, his tone firm as he slowly turned Ethan around, looking to Aiden as well before looking at Lydia.

"Well if the question extends to me, I'm technically a Banshee, hence all the screaming, hence why I seem to always find out about people dying so fast…let's not get into too much detail shall we?" Lydia said trying to skirt the topic as much as possible. She was still coping with accepting the fact that she wasn't entirely human, and it was something she was trying to take at her own pace.

"As for Ethan and I, we're werewolves." Aiden replied calmly as the still shifted Alpha began to shift down. "So are Scott and Isaac, so were Boyd and Erica. Derek is one, Cora, and their uncle Peter and their cousin Al. Jackson is a werewolf too but we never got to meet him before he was sent to London. Here's hoping he doesn't get his head ripped off by one of the British packs." Aiden trailed off crossing his arms in front of himself.

"So I've been dating a werewolf, my best friend was dating a banshee and said banshee is now dating another werewolf, all of the friends I've had have been werewolves…Is Stiles a werewolf? What about Allison?" Danny asked going over the rest of the names from their little table.

"Allison is a hunter, she and her entire family kinda hunt werewolves and stuff like that." Ethan said before reaching out and calming Danny down. "They only kill evil psycho werewolves, don't worry, we're not on the list." Ethan added swiftly. "As for Stiles, we're not entirely sure yet, we're guessing he's learning to become a druid or something."

"A druid." Danny said with a raised brow. "Why a druid?" he asked as he looked around again.

"Because druids are the people werewolves turn to for advice, healing and protection when they can't do it themselves." Aiden responded. "That and he's Derek's mate." the more aggressive of the twins added.

"Mate? As in soul mate sorta deal?" Danny asked to which the two werewolves in the room nodded. "Does Stiles know this?" the werewolves looked to each other and shrugged.

"That we're not sure about, but considering the fact that I don't think they spend a second apart when they can avoid it? I'd assume they both know, maybe not just how deep their already in, but that it's definitely one of those one and only situations." Ethan said, trying to hold back a blush at the thought of having the same thing with Danny. He didn't want to ask anything from him that he wasn't willing to give, but he didn't want anyone more than the hot and humble Hawaiian in front of him.

"Is…is that what we have?" Danny asked Ethan and Ethan opened his mouth to speak but nothing would come out. Aiden groaned a bit and rolled his eyes while Lydia smiled a little bit.

"Since your boyfriend seems to be paralyzed I think it's safe to say he'd certainly like that to be the case." Lydia said reaching over and patting his knee. "But I can also guess he wasn't to sure about how you would feel on the whole situation."

"Way to ruin the surprise factor." Aiden said playfully to the pale beauty in the room that simply smirked and went to toying with some of her hair.

"Is that what you want us to be Ethan?" Danny asked as look looked dead into his boyfriends honey brown eyes, his question more a compulsion than anything else.

Ethan still couldn't speak, simply looking to the ground as a flush of color spread over his cheeks as he nodded. Aiden simply rubbed his forehead at the rather soft and ultimately childish behavior of his brother. Lydia just kept smiling, it wasn't often she got to see the softer side of the duo, and this was definitely making up for lost time. Danny meanwhile had stood up and walked up in front of Ethan, the latter looking up bashfully before Danny hoisted him from his seat and pulled him into a deep kiss. Ethan's heart joined in with Danny's as he wrapped his arms firmly around his boyfriend, holding him close.

"I…I take it you're okay with the idea then?" Ethan said; finding his voice again once the kiss broke.

"Ethan, I figured I would have to wait until I was n my thirties to not only find a guy that not only wasn't a total whore, but was committed. Ethan, you just made my life a hell of a lot less stressful." Danny said before his lips crashed back into his boyfriend's again.

Aiden swore he was going to be sick if this kept up for much longer and Lydia could see the discomfort on the werewolf's face. She got up and took his hand with a sigh and moved them over to her room. "You know you could have told me you didn't want to see them sucking each other's faces off earlier, we could have left the job of talking this stuff out with Ethan and we could have spent some time enjoying ourselves up here." the strawberry blonde said as he pushed him down onto her bed.

"And how is this different from any other time I'm in here?" Aiden said before he felt lips pressing against his own.

"Hmmm, maybe because while we're making out up here your brother is making out downstairs?" Lydia said with a wicked little smirk. "Besides, maybe they'll get the message and Danny can take your brother home with him." Lydia added, as things steadily got much heavier in Lydia's room as pieces of clothing became discarded.

Ethan could already hear and smell the events beginning to unfold upstairs and he turned to Danny. "Um, could we go somewhere else, I'd rather…let's just say if we stay here we're both going to hear things that will scar us for life." the werewolf said as he rested his head on the Hawaiian chest in front of him. Danny simply chuckled before nodding his head and taking Ethan's hand, heading over to the motorcycle that had brought them both here to begin with before returning to his house.

Álmos had ended up leaving with John and Howard to fill them in on what was going on with this case, legally it was a suicide, Álmos could verify that much, but the cause was far more sinister than any mental illness. Stiles had stayed by Derek's side, almost just as much to assure his mate that he was okay as much as he was trying to keep his mind off of watching someone else dying in front of him.

"Derek, could you bring Stiles home please? Al here will be able to help us out." John said as he looked. Over to where Howard was still getting filled in. The FBI agent might still be new to things here, but he was handling things well enough.

"What about Cora?" Stiles asked as he looked over to the other werewolf and wondered what would end up going on with her.

"Vivian has agreed to bring her back to the loft and look after her until Al is done filling us in. She figured you two should have so time to yourselves to help distract yourselves from all of this, I actually surprisingly agree." John added as he ran a hand through his thinning hair. "From what I hear you two haven't had much time alone anyway so I thought it might help to give you two some space to talk things out, actually settle into things." the sheriff said as he looked the pair over. "I remember what it was like trying to get time alone with your mother just to spend some time alone without people hanging on around us, pain in the…" John began to say before being cut off.

"Okay, dad, I don't need to know about the alone time you had with mom." Stiles said as he closed his eyes and tried to forget that his father was actually going there.

"I'm not talking about that stuff Stiles, I'm just talking about that quiet space where you didn't have someone trying to bother you or pull you off to do something else. Just some actual time to breathe and just enjoy together." John said, Stiles had no clue his father had such a sentimental side, and truthfully he could have done without knowing that. He was now starting to picture he and his parents being all lovey-dovey and it was making him want to wash his brain out.

"Okay, I get it, Derek, let's go before my dad puts any more images I don't want in my head." Stiles said as he made a move for the Camaro, backpack tight to his back as he moved into the passenger's seat and pulled the backpack around to hide behind.

John sighed and shook his head before looking at Derek. "Just promise me if anything does happen you two won't be stupid about it." John requested before turning back to Álmos and continuing their line of questions.

"I promise nothing bad will happen, that much I can assure you." Derek said as he turned to go to his car, moving briskly, wanting to capitalize on the options to spend some honest time alone with his mate, without any unwanted company to make things more difficult. Once inside he reached over and gently ran his hand over his mate's shoulders and smiled. "Come on babe, let's get you home."

"Home sounds good right now, I can do home." Stiles said tiredly, leaning back and looking over to Derek with a sort of drained smile on his face. He could see a new pattern drawn onto Stiles' hand another shield knot like he'd seen him looking at the other night.

"Making sure we won't have to worry about anything huh?" Derek asked with a smile, reaching over and tracing the pattern, shivering from the surge of energy from doing so.

"Something tried to get at me yesterday morning, I can't tell what but it didn't like mountain ash. Seems Al was right about me learning some things from Deaton, it might just save my ass." Stile said before Derek sped off to the sheriff's home.

"It takes a little bit out of you each time, doesn't it?" Derek said more than asked as he saw glanced over to Stiles who looked to be a little worn out.

"No more than my algebra homework every night." Stiles said with a laugh before he stretched a little bit and then shook his head. "Nothing a little soda and some junk food won't fix." Stiles added, as they got closer to home. "Besides this is pretty much how I was every day you were done, all of those questions going through my head every second, kinda stressful."

"I'm sorry." Derek said as they pulled into the driveway behind Stiles' old clunker of a jeep.

"Hey, don't keep saying that, we went over it, we talked things out, we're good, okay?" Stiles said as he rolled his head along the headrest of his seat to look at Derek. "We're fine." Stiles added reaching over and taking the sourwolf's hand. Derek simply let his eyes close as he felt Stiles take his hand in his own before looking back over and nodding. "Good, now let's get inside I'm feeling particularly in need of some comforting, this may or may not require lengthy periods of cuddling, kissing, possible back rubs.." Stiles began to ramble off before Derek was out of the car and pulling him out the passenger side, hoisting him up over his shoulder. Stiles began playfully hitting his back as he was carried, laughing a bit before he was put down on his feet and pressed against a wall before being kissed softly.

"Sometimes I forget just how much you can talk." Derek said as the kiss broke and he pressed his face into the crook of Stiles' neck, gently kissing the tender flesh there and nuzzling against it, his scruffy stubble scraping against it gently sending a shiver up Stiles' spine.

"Mmm, uh-huh, but you've definitely found one very effective way to get me to stop." Stiles said his eyes closed as Derek continued to tease at his neck. He could feel himself getting a little lost in the moment though and so before he could lose his focus, what little was left he raised a hand to Derek's chest. "Hold up for a bit babe, just a little, I need to get something to drink first, get some energy back." Stiles said softly into the werewolf's ear, sending a shiver up Derek's spine in turn. Oh gods the fun Stiles was going to have with this man of his.

Derek relented and let Stiles walk off, but now that his focus wasn't on Stiles and on the rest of the home, that's when it hit him. Sulfur.


	14. United as One

**Warning, there is sexual content in this chapter, if you do NOT want to read about two dudes getting down and dirty do not read this chapter.**

Derek would have sworn he'd ran through the wall if it weren't for the fact that there was no dust or shards of wood or plaster sticking into him. As he rounded the corner he saw a mostly corporeal image in front of Stiles, standing there looking hungrily at the young Emissary in training. Derek made to step forward but Stiles raised his hand to stop him, leveling his eyes at the still somewhat wispy figure in front of them. As the figure moved forward Stiles raised the back of his left hand where the shield knot was still emblazoned on it and swung it with full force at the specter sending it flying into and through a nearby wall, a burst of energy shaking the room. A screaming sound could be heard before the smell of the spirit faded away from the house along with the figure that had been there.

"Remind to have this engraved on my bat, this thing is great." Stiles said as he looked at the faintly glowing image on his hand. "Though the idea of pimp-slapping things through walls is kinda amusing." Stiles added as he began to laugh a bit. Derek just stood there, transfixed at what he'd just seen, Stiles, telling him to stand back and then backhanding a strigoi clear to the other end of the house. Whoever this Stiles was, he wasn't the same stumbling Stiles he'd known before, he was…badass? Was that word fitting here? Impressive, almost intimidating, but with that comment Derek had been knocked back to reality as he chuckled.

"Babe, only you would take what just happened and focus on the fact that you just backhanded an evil spirit through your kitchen wall." Derek said as he moved over and took Stiles' hand in his own, feeling the energy still thrumming under the flesh. "Won't lie, that was pretty damn cool though." he admitted as he looked up into those warm syrup colored eyes and smiled.

"Well, you know these things happen when you're in training to be a badass super druid." Stiles replied, playfully brushing his shoulders off a little before looking back into the cool slate grey eyes of his boyfriend. However he hadn't realized quite how much damage had been done, how much power he'd put behind that burst. He began falling before he could stop himself, but having a werewolf as a boyfriend paid off as Derek caught the slack figure of Stiles as he took a very deep steadying breath. "Okay, right, food, need to be able to move." the teen said with a playful smirk.

"Stiles, you need to be more careful with the amount of power you put into the stuff, you keep pushing yourself like this it's going to end up risking serious harm." Derek said as he placed a hand on Stiles' arm, searching for pain, he was glad that all that was there was some minor fatigue.

"I know, though hopefully that will let the other shadowing, ghosty things know that I'm not a prime target." Stiles replied as he moved over to a nearby chair. "Um…any chance you'd be willing to fix me a sandwich or something babe?" he asked as he looked over to the counter, a bag of bread was there and there was plenty in the fridge to work with. Derek raised an eyebrow and smiled before turning and setting to work. "I promise Derek I won't make any sexist housewife jokes." the normally hyperactive individual said as Derek started making Stiles a ham and cheese sandwich with some lettuce and tomato with a light layer of mayo. He also pulled out a root beer for each of them as he went back over to Stiles and handed the sandwich over ad uncapped the bottle. "Thanks babe." Stiles said taking a swig and almost instantly feeling the buzz of sugar start to re-energize him. The sandwich helped with that in it's own way, helped to give him that 'full tank' feeling, and full it was as he let out a slight belch once he'd finished up.

"Classy Stiles." Derek said as he listened to the short burst of gas come out of his mate's lips. "I'd give it a solid seven." he added looking up with a half amused expression on his face.

"I'll take it, not often I can get up there." Stiles added with a smirk as he went over and began to wash up his dishes feeling much better now and feeling like he had more energy again. "So about the gratuitous amounts of affection?" Stiles asked before hearing Derek belt out a belch of his own, clearly having chucked his root beer. "Babe I think you've invented a whole new standard." Stiles said with a broad smirk as he moved back over Derek smirking up at him. "That one breaks the ten scale."

"I'll take that." Derek said as he got up and pulled Stiles back toward him again and pressing their lips together. "You know that's getting a little addictive." Derek added once his lips parted from Stiles'.

"Mmhmm, I'm not complaining, kiss addiction is totally acceptable." Stiles replied as he went back to kissing Derek firmly, feeling the other lift him by the waist and then support him as he wrapped his legs around Derek's waist. He tilted his head and moaned softly into the kiss as he felt Derek carry him up the stairs and into his room. Once he felt his back against the bed he realized where things could likely go. He pulled back from the kiss and pushed Derek's chest a little distance further from him to look into his eyes.

"What is it?" Derek asked, now looking like a mix of concerned and what Stiles recognized as hurt.

"I want to make sure that we're not rushing this, I want to know it's not just impulse and I want to be sure that we're both ready before any clothing starts coming off." Stiles replied as he reached up and trailed his hand against Derek's stubble, causing the werewolf's eyes to close as he nuzzled into the tender touch.

"The way I'm seeing it, how many other times are we going to have the chance?" Derek asked with a smirk as he began to trail kissed from Stiles' wrist and upward. "Between your dad, Scott, Cora, everyone else, when are we going to be alone long enough to truly get to do this?" Derek asked as he looked down on his mate. "And don't tell me you haven't thought of it, I know you have babe." he added with a knowing smirk.

"That…is actually a really good point." Stiles said but before Derek could get back into things he stopped him again. "You realize I didn't magically lose my virginity while you were gone right? Do you have anything to, well, help with the process?" Stiles asked as he looked nervously at Derek.

The werewolf slowly backed off of Stiles and pulled off his jacket and pulled a wrapped bundle of condoms and a bottle of lube out of the pockets. He put them on the side table before moving down to sit next to Stiles taking off his sneakers as he did. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to." Derek said as he wrapped an arm around Stiles' shoulder and pulled him close. Stiles turned and rested his head on Derek's shoulder, his hand moving to rest on his chest as he continued to think things to death.

"I know I want to, I just don't know if I should, I mean we've only been official a day." Stiles said as he stroked his hand up and down Derek's stomach, he stopped when he felt Derek tense a little bit, he looked down and saw Derek trying to keep his right leg still and he immediately looked back up at his boyfriend's face, an almost pleading expression on it.

"Stiles, please don't…" Derek began before Stiles was rubbing the werewolf's stomach again and Derek couldn't fit it as his right leg began shaking. "Gods Stiles I'm going to kill you." Derek said through gritted teeth, Stiles however was laughing hysterically.

"Oh my god I can't believe this actually happens to you." Stiles said as he eventually stopped, moving over to straddle Derek's waist as he seemingly sought to get out of bed. He looked up angrily at Stiles almost as though he were about to shift. "If it helps I will take that secret to my grave babe." Stiles said into the werewolf's ear, sending a pleasing shock through Derek's system.

"You better, or else I'll…" Derek began to say before getting cut off by the teen on top of him.

"Throat, teeth, I know babe." Stiles said as he leaned down to kiss the werewolf who had seemingly forgiven the hyperactive teen as his arms wrapped firmly around Stiles as Stiles' own made their way behind Derek's neck and the other up into his hair as the kiss began to deepen. He felt Derek trace over his lips with his tongue and he let them part enough to allow that hot, slick muscle to enter his waiting mouth. In that moment he knew he was in this for the long haul, because in that moment when he felt Derek's tongue catch his own he never wanted another to do so. He began to press his luck, pushing his tongue back against Derek's to find him more than receptive to the act as their tongues danced about as heads tilted and hands roamed.

By the time the pair parted the kiss, gasping for breath they had both found themselves without shirts, having been so lost in the feeling of the kiss they had totally forgotten when they had peeled one another's shirts off. Stiles looked down at the beautifully chiseled form of Derek beneath him, and Derek up at the lithe but well toned figure of his mate. Both scanned the other before Derek pulled Stiles back down, pulling his bare chest to his own, feeling flesh press to flesh, the initial contact sending that pulse of shock through them, that instant of 'this is actually happening' finally registering in each of their minds. They took a moment to bask in one another's warmth, feeling their hearts beating together, the gently rise and fall of their chests as they took deep breaths of one another, Stiles with that warm, vanilla, sugary aroma, Derek with one of hinted mint, and rain. Stiles eventually pulled back too see Derek's eyes, the cool shade still soft, and almost vulnerable in this moment, truly beautiful.

"You're eyes are really beautiful." Stiles said as he brushed his fingers across the man's cheeks, just under the still fading bags under his eyes.

"Not as beautiful as yours." Derek replied before pulling Stiles down again, kissing him and letting his hands begin to dig into those firm muscles in the younger man's body, earning more than a few grateful moans as he loosened them up. By the time that they broke apart again the unmistakable feeling of two hardened shafts trapped inside denim prisons could be noticed. "Are you sure you're ready?" Derek asked as he looked into Stiles' eyes. They were set, determined and full of a certainty that Derek was still going to need to get used to.

"Would you like blunt or sarcasm?" Stiles asked as he pulled his hips back and ground in against the werewolf, a playful gleam in his eyes as he felt the bulges in their respective pants make contact.

"Pants, off, now." Derek said as he smirked up at his mate and pushed him back a bit, letting his hands trailing down to the waistband of Stiles' pants. "Otherwise you're going to need a new pair." Derek added as Stiles felt those claws slowly extend, the werewolf smirking at him.

Stiles didn't hesitate, moving off of Derek and awkwardly pulling his pants down looking over as Derek began to do the same, denim slowly moving down legs that were just as well sculpted as the rest of that godlike body. He just gaped at Derek as he saw him them let his hands move behind his head, looking at Stiles with a smug look on his face. He then glanced down toward the straining fabric of the black boxer briefs he was wearing, the snug fabric outlining the shaft very nicely. Stiles got the message and moved over, but before he got to that he moved up Derek's body, leaning in to leave a kiss on his lips before moving down his jaw to his neck, chest, slowly flicking his tongue over one nipple, than the other. Finally some of those gay porn sites he'd been to were now paying off. He kept trailing kisses down Derek's body, listening to those glorious soft moans escaping Derek's lips, licking over his abs before getting down to that bulge in his tight black boxer briefs. He took a deep breath, that musk that was always somehow there was present here. It wasn't a smell of filth, or sweat, it was purely pheromones A distinctly male scent that had Stiles hooked. He reached down with one hand, and leaning back so that his face wouldn't just dive down into that crotch he pulled Derek's boxer's down. There it was now, that long, thick meaty shaft, the one he'd pictured the night before was right in front of him and his eyes were fixated on it.

Derek broke him from his fixation rather effectively as he pulled Stiles chin up and closer to his own as he took control of the situation, assaulting those soft lips with his own, as he flipped Stiles onto his back and moved over on top of him. He reached down and like a magician pulled Stiles' boxers cleanly off, never moving him for a moment. He looked down at the smaller albeit far from insignificant shaft that the teen was sporting. He leaned in and kissed Stiles firmly before moving his way down steadily, scruff tickling the soft flesh beneath, causing Stiles to tremble. He stopped shy of Stiles' crotch and looked up at the teen, his eyes looking to his, a silent question exchanged to which Stiles nodded with a smile. That's all Derek needed before his eyes closed, hair spread on his face and arms, ears pointed and claws extended. As Derek's eyes opened they shone their cold blue, but now there was a fire behind it, a blue flame that flickered only for Stiles. His canines were longer, but not threatening to puncture flesh, Derek was still in control. As Stiles moved his eyes down he spotted the slight tapering of the head of his love's shaft, but the knot he was expecting wasn't there, he raised his eyes too ask his own silent question and Derek pulled himself up some more and pulled Stiles with him.

"It won't start to show until I get closer to blowing my load. By then I need to know if you want it inside you or if you want me to keep it outside of you, keep in mind it will be hard for me to hold back like this, is will also be hard for you to take this our first time." Derek said as he looked into Stiles' warm gaze, his eyes still soft for all the times Stiles had seen the opposite from these cold blue spheres.

"I'll handle it babe, worse comes to worse it's not like you can't take the edge off the pain right?" Stiles said as he smiled at his mate.

Derek smiled back and kissed Stiles softly, Stiles tongue moving in and gently stroking over those sharp canines. "I love you so much Stiles." Derek said as the kiss broke and he gently laid Stiles back down.

"I love you too Derek." Stiles replied as he felt his back press down into the soft fabric of his bedding. He then moaned softly as he felt Derek lay down on top of him, gently grinding against him, both shafts pulsing, hot between their bare bodies.

Derek began his descent again, though this time he didn't stop at the crotch, he moved down and nuzzled that shaft, breathing in deeply of Stiles' unique and irresistible scent, basking in it before dragging his tongue up from the base of the easily seven inch rod to the tip, circling the head before kissing it and taking it into his mouth, sucking gently before slowly sinking himself down on it. This was his first time with a guy, but he'd done his due diligence as well, slowly working his way and swallowing that head into his throat, moaning deeply around it and causing Stiles' to practically shout in pleasure, gripping the blankets under them.

"OH FUCK!" Stiles screamed as he felt that mouth around him, those moans shaking him and sending lightning shooting from his shaft to his brain. "Oh gods babe that feels so good." the teen cried out, taking in shallow breaths, trying to make them deeper to try and regain control, but the alien touch was too much for him to handle and he wasn't able to fight back the pure pleasure he was feeling. In a few short moments, admittedly a lot longer than Stiles figured he'd manage he was growing too close to hold back. "Babe…babe stop, you're gonna make me…mmmmff." Stiles moaned out trying to keep back the inevitable.

Derek pulled back in time to keep his mate from reaching the point of no return, looking up at him gently as he kissed the head again before reaching over for the lube and condoms. He was surprised when Stiles stopped the hand with the condoms, taking them and putting them to the side, shaking his head. "Are you sure babe?" Derek asked as he realized Stiles wanted to do this bareback.

"I'm sure babe, not like I'm going to catch anything right? And you can't turn me unless you're and Alpha, and like you said before, you can't knock me up right?" Stiles asked as he ran his hands up and down Derek's arm, his climax subsiding but more than likely easily regained. "I want this to be a real first babe." Stiles added, pulling Derek down for a soft kiss before lying back down. "First things first, get me ready for that monster." the teen said as he pointed down to the throbbing eight inch slab of werewolf cock.

Derek chuckled and nodded his head. "Alright, get ready to feel really weird, and then really good. But also get ready for some discomfort and pain." Derek said as he took one of Stiles' pillows and moved it under his hips, showing the tight ring of untouched virgin muscle that was his mate's hole. He took a deep breath and then opened the lube bottle and squirted some around his fingers, letting it warm up a it before placing the middle one at his hole, being sure to pull back the wolf enough to remove the threat of clawing his love open. He smeared the lube over the puckered entrance before gently prodding forward, letting it slowly stretch that ring before pulling back to massage around it.

Stiles gasped as he felt the first finger press against his hole, taking a sharp breath as his hole clenched. "Oh damn that feels weird." he said as he slowly began to relax again, he knew enough by now that tensing up would only make it hurt more…or so he'd read.

"I told you so babe." Derek said knowingly as he pressed back forward, his finger slowly opening Stiles more and more before his finger sank into that hole. He felt Stiles shudder under him and felt that hole grip him tightly as he began to gently work his finger back and forth inside him, gently getting him adjusted to the girth of the digit. "Alright, deep breath now, going to work another one in, let me know if it starts to hurt." Derek said as Stiles got adjusted to the first finger. Stiles nodded as he felt the second digit slowly begin to join the first, gasping out loud as the feeling of having the two of them stretch him like this was intense, it was totally foreign but so far he had nothing to say about it but that, it wasn't pain, it wasn't pleasure, it was something in between as he got used to this feeling. Once the two had become something more comfortable Derek nodded his head. "Okay, one more, okay?" he asked getting another nod from Stiles. He re-lubed his fingers a bit and pressed the three in, flattening them out, spreading them, spinning them around to get Stiles adjusted, slowly and steadily working that ring of muscle to make it accommodate the size of the fingers. It wasn't just to get him used to the stretch if his shaft, but also that inevitable knot. Once he was satisfied that Stiles was prepped enough he took another deep breath. "Okay babe, you think you're ready?" he asked as he hooked his fingers around to brush over on particular spot in his lover's body.

Stiles shouted out as he felt his prostate being toyed with like that. "Fuck babe if you can do that while you're in there I'm ready ten minutes ago." Stiles responded as his head was thrown back from the pressure against his prostate. Derek simply smiled and reached for the lube again, covering his shaft before placing the slightly tapered tip at the entrance of his love's hole.

"Here we go then my mate." Derek said as he began to press himself in, the tip made the slow and steady push in easier than it would have been otherwise. He saw Stiles' face contort a bit in discomfort, having never had anything like this pressed so deep into him. Derek took it as slow as he could, being sure to avoid moving at a pace that would cause his mate any pain. Eventually the full eight inches of werewolf shaft were buried deep inside Stiles' tight, and now no longer virgin hole.

Stiles had been taking deep steadying breaths the entire time that thick shaft had been working its way deeper into his body, feeling it stretch the tunnel of muscles around it like a glove over a hand. "Oh fuck babe…god damn…this…this is…fuck." the teen panted out as his hole slowly made room for that thick mass of shaft. "Oh gods babe…this…this feels so good. It feels right." Stiles moaned out once the initial discomfort gave way to pleasure.

"I know babe, let me know when you want to get started." Derek responded as he loomed over his mate's body, eventually Stiles gave him the go ahead with a nod of his head as he pulled Derek down to kiss him, moaning as he felt that shaft draw out and then slowly bury itself back inside him. Derek kept this tender, gentle pace for a while, kissing his mate passionately as his shaft slipped back and forth, a steady stream of precum now leaking out to help lube his shaft up even more, making each thrust steadily easier. "God babe, you feel so good." Derek groaned out, his body along with Stiles already feeling the heat of the moment; sweat beginning to bead over their skin.

"Fuck babe so do you…keep going, I want you to take me, I want to be yours, I always want to be yours." Stiles cried out as his erection flared back, having been neglected for a bit it had deflated some, but not is stood proudly again.

"As you wish." Derek replied as he gave the teen a scorching kiss before pulling out and driving back in sharply, hiking Stiles' hips in such a way that he ran his shaft right against his prostate causing Stiles to scream in pleasure, his toes curling and his fingers digging into the mattress. Derek smiled as he began to keep up this harder pace, very gradually building up speed until he had Stiles calling out his name in between loud expletives. It wasn't much longer until her could feel that stirring in his gut, he was getting close. "I'm getting there…are you ready babe?" Derek moaned out, fangs elongating to their fullest, claws extending as he carefully gripped Stiles' thighs, driving in, balls smacking into those round, pale, firm cheeks as the slightest of swellings could be felt near the base of his shaft.

Stiles screamed out a window shaking yes as his legs gripped tightly around Derek's waist as his arms clasped around his neck and back. "Make me yours!" Stiles pleaded, as the abuse of his prostate was about to show its effect. Derek simply nodded, as his thrusts became more rapid, more feral as his knot began swelling more and more until it was the rough size of an orange, slapping against that hole, stretching it more and more until with a loud roar and a noticeable popping sound it was swallowed by Stiles' hole. A few humps later and both of their bodies tensed up as they achieved a mutual climax, Derek's flooding his lover's tunnel with thick werewolf cream, Stiles' own thick mess splattering over their chests and stomachs, even hitting the underside of his own chin. He didn't stop holding Derek tightly, that knot pressing up tight against his prostate.

Derek was the first to regain his bearings, this wasn't the first time he'd had sex, but it had been the first time with his true mate, he looked down at the sticky mess between them and then up into the glossed over syrup-brown eyes of his mate. He leaned down and kissed him firmly, lifting him to sit in his lap, the knot being driven in a little more deeply and causing Stiles to wince a little before he kissed Derek back. They sat like that for a while until Derek felt himself slowly shifting down, his knot shrinking back down as his shaft went soft inside Stiles freshly claimed hole.

"So um…was that as amazing for you as it was for me?" Stiles asked once he was coherent enough to do so.

"Do I even need to dignify that with a response?" Derek asked before he had his lips back on the teens, gripping him tightly in his arms as he rolled onto his back taking Stiles down with him.

"Guess not, that told me everything I needed to know." Stiles replied with a broad smiled before he rested his head down beside Derek's own. "I love you sourwolf." he whispered gently into Derek's ear.

"I love you too my hyper little druid." Derek said in kind, simply content to bask in the afterglow he was having with the young man he'd found his home with.


	15. We Really Should Expect the Unexpected

The afterglow was wound up with a warm shower, each taking turns exploring the other's body as they dragged a wet, soapy cloth over gleaming flesh. There may or may not have been some more physical exertion in the shower, but neither were too focused on that, more so on the feeling of their bodies pressed together.

"So much better than I imagined." Stiles said softly over the spray of the shower head, resting his head on his mate's chest, just letting the warm water flow down over them as his arms traced gentle patterns across Derek's back.

"I'm just glad about one thing." Derek said as he raised his mate's chin up looking down with half-lidded eyes, water dripping down his face.

"Hmm, what's that?" Stiles asked before leaving a gentle kiss on the werewolf's cheek.

"That you're still my first in all the right ways." Derek said as he kissed Stiles back firmly before slowly pulling back. "My first guy, my first mate, my first time being able to lose myself without really losing myself. I finally got to have sex and have it be more than sex. It was better than that." the werewolf added as he nuzzled against his mate's neck.

"Sounds about right to me, though, um, just curious here…is this going to be a one way deal where I'm always on the receiving end every time? Because I have to say, I don't know how well I can manage that." Stiles said, his rear was still pretty sore from what had just unfolded, something he'd have to get used to eventually.

"Do you…do you want to top?" Derek asked, mentally slapping himself for instantly assuming that Stiles wouldn't have wanted to do so first.

"Do you want to bottom?" Stiles retorted and Derek actually had to think about that for a moment, his face was blank. That idea had never crossed his mind and it was an honest shock to him to suddenly be asked that question.

"I…I don't know." Derek responded as he backed up enough to take his face out from where it had buried itself in his lover's brown hair. "I mean, it would depend I guess. Do you really want to top me too?" Derek asked as he looked down at Stiles.

"I'd certainly like the opportunity, but I'm not about to order you to let me fuck you babe." Stiles replied, and though the topic was serious Stiles tried to keep some level of levity to it.

"If you want to do it babe I'm not going to deny you the chance." Derek said as he leaned down and kissed him. "We'll discuss it later though, I've never really pictured it for myself so I'd like to think it over a bit before we just jump into things, is that okay?" Derek asked as he gently stroked his mate's cheek.

"Hey, no problem here, the fact that we're even considering it is good at this point." Stiles said delightedly as he slowly moved to turn off the water before they started to get all pruny. He then opened the door and grabbed the pair of towels they'd left on the nearby edge of the sink, grabbing one in his hands and reaching up and beginning to slowly dry Derek off, Derek picking up on what Stiles had in mind and returning the favor, in the end the pair tying the towels around their waists and smiling down before leaning in for one final kiss before walking out of the shower and down the hall back into Stiles' room. They were smiling the entire way before laying back down on the bed, letting the towels slip away and leaving them nice and bare beside one another. It wasn't awkward, it wasn't uncomfortable, quite contrary, it felt almost natural for them to be like this together, and they were savoring it.

"Your dad's going to be home soon." Derek said softly, one hand wrapped behind Stiles' back and onto his stomach, the other taking Stiles' free hand in his own, and the one not preoccupied with running through Derek's raven black hair.

"We should probably get dressed." Stiles responded a little bit, grumbling a little as he moved and grabbed his boxers and Derek's boxer briefs and tossed the black bundle at his boyfriend who slipped them on with a grumble of his own. "I know, but hey, only have to deal with this for as long as I live here." Stiles responded as he pulled up his boxers and snuggled up with his mate, head moving to his chest as sighed gently. "Could be worse babe, he could be upset with this." Stiles added as stroked the werewolf's side.

"Fair enough." Derek replied with a smile. "Should I go?" Derek asked as he looked down to Stiles.

"Nah, I don't care what he says I'm not going to lose my cuddlewolf." Stiles said as he held Derek more firmly. Derek only chuckled.

"I should probably at least have my pants on babe." Derek added with a smirk as he moved to grab for his jeans, pulling them back on and helping Stiles do the same. "Now before you start getting grumpy let's go downstairs and see what it is you have to eat, I'm cooking this time." the werewolf said as he picked Stiles up out of the bed and deposited him back on the floor before heading downstairs to begin cooking whatever was available.

Once down there he found a few frozen pork chops in the freezer and nodded his head as he pulled those out and let them thaw in the microwave before getting a glass casserole dish and pouring a can of cream of mushroom soup he'd seen into the bottom before putting the now thawed pork in and putting it in the oven to bake for a bit, cooking some rice on top of the range and added a few things in to help season it.

"So when did you learn to cook?" Stiles asked as he went to go sit at the table nearby, inhaling the rich aroma of the herbs being infused into the rice, mouth watering a little as he saw his shirtless mate walking around the kitchen.

"In New York, back after the fire Laura and I went there, I learned from her, she'd learned from mom, so it was a pretty good way to learn. Mom was an incredible cook." Derek said with a sad smile on his face as he stirred the rice. "I really wish you could have met her." he added before turning his head away from the rice. It was clear that Stiles should have really thought things through before he'd asked that question. At the same time though it was probably best that he had, better to get it out now while things were building instead of waiting later on and shaking things up.

"Oh shit babe, I'm sorry." Stiles said as he got up and moved over to the now somewhat morose werewolf, wrapping his arms around him from behind and resting his head on the triskele tattoo on his back, squeezing him gently.

"It's okay, for once I don't think I'm going to end up crying over it, it just really sucks, I don't even get to here her tell me that she doesn't approve or that you're too good for me." Derek said with a chuckle.

"Hey, I'm plenty good enough for you and even if she said otherwise I'd…well I don't what I'd do because from what I've heard about your mom she was downright terrifying if she had to be." Stiles rambled as he turned Derek around.

"I was going with the worst case scenario, to be honest she'd have probably loved you, and proceeded to embarrass me with every single childhood story she could think of." Derek said as he rolled his eyes at the thought of it. "She never got the chance to do that with Paige, or with Kate, both of them having been seemingly normal humans. He hadn't trusted himself to bring either back home with him, not really. Kate had known the location but he hadn't dared bring her directly there. "Then again I'm glad I never had her meet the latter, she would have been beyond pissed." Derek replied before resting his forehead against Stiles'. "Can we try to change topics now? It's killing my appetite." Derek added with a tired sigh.

Stiles nodded, holding Derek close. "No problem, food smells too good anyway, what were we talking about?" Stiles asked as he looked up with a smirk.

"And moments like these babe are why I love you." Derek said softly before pulling Stiles into a soft yet tender kiss. At that moment they heard the cruiser pull up and a series of doors being opened and closed and a set of keys being hung up followed by a very tired sigh. "Sounds like dad's home." Derek said softly as he looked up and slowly let Stiles go, turning back to finish up the meal he was preparing.

"Hey dad." Stiles said as the worn out sheriff rounded the corner into the kitchen moving to sit down in one of the chairs at the table off to the side and running a hand over his face.

"I am unbelievably exhausted." John said as he leaned back and let his arms drop down to his sides. "After we talked with Al we ended up running around town, going to some places he considered 'high risk' locations, the old manufacturing district, some of the more run down areas of town, the hospital, the station, the old bank that I found Deaton in, even the old Hale house." John said getting an immediate reaction from Derek.

"Why is the house a high risk area?" Derek asked firmly as he stared pointedly at the sheriff.

"Well like Al said the dead aren't resting well, he wanted to make sure that this y István guy didn't go disturbing your family." John said as he looked over to Derek, it seemed that the gesture was definitely appreciated by the glossed over look to Derek's eyes that threatened to begin shedding some of the moisture.

"He's a Hale too, he's just trying to keep our family safe. What about the nemeton?" Derek asked as he thought about the blood that had been spilled there.

"He said that place would be fine, it's still a sacred location, István apparently can't go anywhere near it without a host, and he can't raise anyone who was killed there, so Maria, Jennifer, they'll stay dead." John said trying to put Derek's mind to rest, John hadn't been told about Paige and the look Derek gave Stiles could only be seen as gratitude.

"Good, did you hit up the cemeteries?" Derek asked wanting to be sure if the dead were indeed dead that they stayed that way.

"Again, holy ground and all of that, the only dead that Al said we might have to deal with are the ones that died violently in their homes or in other places outside of them." John replied.

"So like Isaac's dad for instance?" Stiles asked as the idea of Mr. Lahey coming back and coming to haunt Isaac came to mind. "Oh my god, what about Allison's mom!?" Stiles shouted, now visibly starting to show his levels of concern. Derek could sense Stiles' panic and moved over after pulling the food out of the oven before it burned, wrapping his arms around the teen and gently rocking him.

"I'll be calling Chris tomorrow to make sure he knows what's going on, I promise no one is going to get possessed or anything like that on my watch okay sport?" John said as he moved over and put a hand on his son's shoulder, looking up appreciatively to Derek for helping to soothe Stiles.

Stiles nodded taking in a few deep breaths as he eased back down. "Yeah…yeah, I'm sorry, I just…I don't want the ghosts that are psychologically haunting us to actually start haunting us." Stiles said waving his hands in front of him slightly before sighing and leaning back into his boyfriend. "Sorry for the panic babe." Stiles added as he looked up into the werewolf's eyes.

"Hey, I'd rather we be able to have it spread out than have it trigger an attack babe." Derek said back before leaning down and kissing him softly. "Now go get a shirt on I don't want to end up having to lick your chest clean later." Derek whispered teasingly into his mate's ear, quiet enough to not be overheard. Stiles blushed vermilion before rushing upstairs to grab a shirt, and to keep his dad from asking any awkward questions. "Hope you don't mind pork and rice with cream of mushroom soup." Derek added to the sheriff as he began to serve up three plates, each with a bed of rice, a chop and a healthy ladle full of the cream of mushroom soup.

"It'll be a hell of a lot more than most of the stuff I get around here." John said with a laugh as Stiles came back down wearing a Superman shirt and sitting down at the table. Dinner was more than pleasant that night, and as it turned out, Stiles ended up having to lick Derek's chest clean later that night.

"Hey dad is it okay if Isaac stays the night again?" Allison asked as she rounded the corner of her father's office to look in on him, he was pouring over a book on his desk, a small drink beside him that he seemed to have been nursing for some time now.

"Hmm…oh yeah, sure, just make sure he stays on the couch this time. I know the two of you are getting close, but I do not to co-ed sleepovers in the same room." Chris replied as he looked up at his daughter and the young beta slouching behind her. "Nothing personal Isaac, just the typical over protective father." he added as he looked over at the lanky young man in the hallway.

"No, problem Mr. Argent that's fine." Isaac said, and though he'd grown comfortable around the man the threat of a wolfsbane infused bullet should he break with any of those rules.

Allison just gave her father a wilting look, but because she didn't want to admit to all of the times Scott had spent the night in her bed she didn't push the matter. "Thanks dad, come on Isaac, let's go set the couch up." she said turning around and marching off to the living room area again, the occasional sound of coughing coming from her grandfather's room. She didn't care, in fact at times she wished he'd either turn, or chose on the black mucus oozing out of him. Either way he'd end up dead.

Isaac could feel the cold pent up anger in Allison and gently reached over to where she was nearly starting to rip the blanket she'd grabbed and took one of her hands. "Try to stay calm, okay? I know things are still tough here, but you need to learn to get passed these things, even if Gerard does get better he's how old? Not like he'd be much of a threat as a werewolf anyway." Isaac said with a smirk, Allison chuckling in response as she set the blanket down on the couch, a split second later though he had Isaac on his back as something practically hurtled through the air over their heads. "What they hell was that?" Isaac asked as he began to whip his head back and forth trying to track whatever it had been that had flown over them.

"I don't know, I caught it out of the corner of my eye and I just reacted." Allison said as Chris bolted out of his office and into the living room, gun drawn as he moved over, seeing his daughter sprawled on top of the beta was certainly not the worst sight in the world but definitely one he could do without. "What's going on?" he asked as he looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he heard some conversation going on inside Gerard's room. He immediately moved to the door and yanked it open, and there was Gerard, speaking to the corner of his room, perfectly calm, in the corner however stood a shadowy, wispy outline, a few features barely noticeable but the eyes struck a cord. Cold, sharp steel blue and locked directly onto the old man in the wheel chair before moving up to look at Chris.

"Would one of you please explain to me why I'm not as dead as I would like to be?" came the voice of Victoria Argent from the corner of the room. Chris was frozen and an audible gasp could be heard from the doorway as Allison moved over and saw the slowly clearing image of her mother standing in the corner of the room. "Oh for Christ's sake someone get her out of here." the phantom said waving over to the young woman who had grown even paler than she already was. Isaac complied only to be glared at by the ghost, he didn't stop moving though until he had Allison out of her line of sight and back in her room. "Really Chris? Really? Another werewolf? Why don't we just put a sign on her that says 'pack slut, werewolves need not apply'?" the ghost asked incredulously.

"They aren't like that, at least not yet." Chris said before getting a death glare from the ghost before him. "Trust me I'm not encouraging this and I'm doing my best to put a stop to it."

Turning to face Chris Gerard wiped his nose and mouth before speaking up. "Based on the way they talk here not as well as you should be." he said tossing the tissue aside.

"Shut up." Victoria's ghost and Chris said in unison, both looking at once another and rolling their eyes. Gerard merely shrugged and moved over to his window.

"I'm not sure why you're not still completely dead." Chris stated once Gerard had gone to his corner.

"I do." came Isaac's voice from around the corner again, making sure the spirit didn't see him. "There's another spirit in Beacon Hills, his name is István, he's plotting something involving Derek and his cousin, Álmos." Isaac kept saying steadily. "He's planning to use the people who have died more recently here as a way to lower everyone's guard so he can regain his powers or something, I don't know." the beta replied as he leaned against the wall. "And I still heard you from Allison's room, she's not a slut, and I'm not with her like that, she's still getting over Scott. I'm not a total douchebag." Isaac added before moving his way back to the living room and lying down on the couch.

The beta's words began to sink in some and she looked at Chris. "So some other ghost has raised my spirit from the grave in order to get back at Derek and his cousin, right?" she asked folding her ghostly arms in front of herself. "Is he a hunter?"

"Werewolf!" Isaac called out back to the room full of the living, the dying and the dead.

"In that case whoever this István is he can kiss my ectoplasmic ass." Victoria said before sitting in the middle of the air and rubbing her spectral forehead. "I would have hoped I could rest in peace but no, apparently fate still wants to piss me off just a little bit more. Chris if it weren't for the fact that I doubt I can imbibe in this form I'd ask for the bottle of scotch in the cabinet." Victoria groaned as she brooded in the corner.

"Not that I'm not thrilled to have my daughter-in-law's ghost paying me a visit in my room, but could we please just get her out so I can sleep in what little peace I have remaining to me?" Gerard asked as he moved to get into his bed.

Chris sighed and Victoria simply glared at the old man. "Listen you geriatric piece of shit, you not only tried to brainwash my daughter but you nearly got my husband killed, you're lucky I'm not sending you and that wheelchair flying out and off the balcony." Victoria spat. "But fine, since I'm such an inconvenience I'll leave your prison cell." the female apparition spat before moving out of there and going to the office, the door somehow still managing to slam behind her. Chris gave Gerard another look, suppressing a laugh at the sudden look of terror on his face.

"She's been dead for a while, you honestly think she hasn't been keeping an eye out for everyone?" Chris asked before leaving to check on his daughter.

"She's not alive, she can't be, what is going on?" Allison asked panicked as Chris walked in.

"She's not, she's a ghost, and it seems Isaac knows what's going on more than I do. Any clue who this István guy is he mentioned?" Chris asked in return getting a shake of his daughter's head. "I was afraid of that, I was hoping he was some guy you'd read up on or something." Chris replied with a sigh. "Good news though…" Chris began to say, Allison looking up with a confused expression on her face, "now you definitely won't be able to go into my office…in fact now I wonder if I'll be able to." Chris added as he looked out Allison's doorway. Allison just gave her father an open-mouthed blank expression, as though denying the fact that her father just tried to make a joke.

"That is so beyond not funny dad." Allison said her expression turning cold as she turned away from him and lay down on her bed. Chris moved over and sat down on the other side of her bed and reached over gently grasping her shoulder. "Why is all of this happening again?" Allison asked as Chris began to feel her shaking, could feel her slowly beginning to weep.

"I don't know Allison…I really don't know. But we're going to get through this, okay?" Chris asked his all too frequently emotionally assaulted daughter. Just when their lives were beginning to get back on track this had to happen.

Allison turned around and let her father hold her there for a bit before she saw Isaac standing in the corner looking like he was about to cry as well. She wasn't sure why until she realized that he was worried about whether or not it was possible his father might soon come back as a ghost as well. "Dad, just this once?" she asked as Chris went to look behind him and saw Isaac in almost a vulnerable a state as his daughter.

"Okay, once, but I do not want to hear anything, also you should know better than anyone Allison if your mother, even as a ghost, figures anything else is going on in here, she is going to kill him." Chris warned with as serious a tone as was possible.

Allison nodded and looked at Isaac to make sure he was okay with those terms, it was clear he was petrified by the idea, but he needed to have someone there for him tonight, and Allison was a good move in his book. He nodded as he stepped cautiously into the room as Chris got up. "I promise I won't do anything stupid." Isaac said timidly.

"Good, because if you did…" Chris said before being interrupted by once of Allison's textbooks flying across the room. "Right, I think that's as good an example as I can give." Chris said as he froze up some himself. That night was possibly one of the most awkward that had been endured by the Argent family since Scott's dinner with them back when Kate was still alive, as everyone turned in for the night with varying degrees of difficulty.


	16. Crazy Druid Say What?

"What do you mean your mother's haunting you apartment?" Stiles asked as the teenage octet made their way into the school.

"I mean her ghost is hovering around the damn apartment and throwing things around when someone makes her angry, which is like every time someone opens their mouth. She's not trying to possess anyone but she's definitely not helping things there." Allison said having been filled in a bit more the following morning by Isaac as to what had been going on lately.

"You should still carry one of these with you just in case." Stiles said handing over a shield knot to both Isaac and Allison. "Just because she has a will of her own now doesn't guarantee it will stay that way." he cautioned as the symbol shifted from the paper onto their palms.

"Do you think that my father might try to come back?" Isaac asked bluntly as he looked at his palm, not daring to look up at Stiles.

"I wouldn't rule it out, the good thing is for now at least Allison's mom isn't looking to get anyone killed, except for maybe the bastard who woke her up too soon." Stiles replied as he got to his locker and got the books he'd need for his first few classes.

"If they do is there any way to kill him again?" Isaac asked. "Well, not so much kill so much as keep him far, far away from me?" Isaac added still not looking up from the ground.

"I can ask Deaton if he knows about any wards or banishing techniques that might help, but other than that I can't really think of anything." Stiles said as he ran his hand through his hair. "I would go see Morrell if I were you when you have the time, she might be able to help too." the Emissary in training added as he headed off to his first class.

"Well I have my counseling appointment in a couple hours, that should help." Isaac said finally looking back up now. "I'm really not looking forward to possibly having to deal with my father's ghost." the blonde haired beta sighed out before going his own way followed closely by Allison.

Scott walked up at around the same time, a mixed emotional expression on his face. He was finally starting to come to terms with the fact that he and Allison were over, but the fact that she'd just jumped on board with the practically the next guy she saw hit him hard. He had to remember though that he had more important things to worry about, more things to focus on and right now a romantic entanglement wasn't in the cards.

"So…Allison is being haunted by her mother?" Scott asked as he walked over to Stiles, following him to his first class.

"Yeah, but it seems like her mom wasn't happy that she was back especially the whole 'Hey an undead werewolf wants to use you as a puppet' part of it." Stiles added as he shook his head stepping into the classroom before Scott could get too into the discussion. "We can talk more later, I'm going to be going to the clinic today anyway." Stiles said, Scott just nodded and went his way leaving Stiles to go into the History classroom and join Lydia and Aiden.

This teacher was much like the Chemistry teacher the other day, energized but seemingly holding back a little bit. Substitutes were having some issue sticking around it seemed, and so a permeating feeling of apprehension around the school. It was a grating feeling that was bad enough for the faculty and the student body in general but with four werewolves walking around inside it made things potentially hazardous to everyone. The only thing holding the raw nerves together in the school seemed to be Ms. Morrell and Mrs. Lake, between Marin's counseling and Vivian's supernatural ability to put people at ease things were already slowly beginning to balance the place back down. Eventually things rolled around back to lunch, and the gang all mustered around the table again, except the line up changed a bit as Allison chose to sit beside Isaac today, that same look Scott had on his face coming over it again, but he made it through the period without snapping which Stiles had to admire, especially when Isaac wiped some stray pizza sauce off of Allison's face.

Afterward however the seething quantity of distress boiling under Scott's skin was hitting him, hard. Stiles had to grab him by his rather impressive bicep before he ended up punching a hole through something. "Scott, you need to calm down, please." Stiles said firmly before letting go as Scott leaned his head against a nearby locker.

"She doesn't even have the nerve to tell me she's done with me, and instead she just moves on to someone else." Scott said, his body tense, but it wasn't anger, Stiles recognized that tension and he turned Scott around seeing tears steadily building in his eyes. "She was everything to me damnit, she was my anchor, she was the person I would do anything for." Scott said hoarsely before pushing Stiles aside and heading for the doors of the boy's locker room. The last time he'd run there was when he was having a panic attack and, his concern leading him to follow the werewolf. Stiles found him just slouched in the corner of the showers just letting it all out.

"Hey, hey come on Scott give yourself a break okay? Just shows she doesn't deserve you right?" Stiles asked as he walked over and sat down beside his best friend.

"Maybe it's because I'm an alpha now, maybe she only has a thing for betas and now that Isaac's the only one left she wants to go for him." Scott groaned in his corner.

"Well I can sorta understand why, I mean the last thing she needs is for you to get all fuzzy in the middle of things…and bite her." Stiles said, interrupted slightly by the look of betrayal on Scott's face, but even Scott realized that as much as he hated it, Stiles had a point. He just hunched up even more in the corner as Stiles scooted beside him and pulled him in close. "Hey, just think of it this way, it means you get to have more time with your best friend." Stiles said as he punched Scott playfully in the shoulder.

Scott smirked and lightly tapped back, aware that if he'd gone as hard as Stiles had just that would have ended up causing a bruise. "When you aren't training or hanging out with Derek. By the way…" Scott said sniffing the air around him, "I'm guessing we won't have to worry about you being sacrificed as a virgin anymore." Scott teased as the lingering traces of exertion that he hadn't been able to get rid of hit Scott's nose.

"Damn you and that super nose of yours." Stiles said glowering at Scott. "No, no I won't have to worry about that anymore." he added with a blush to rival all blushes, talking sex with someone who was practically his brother was awkward.

"Hey, I'm just happy that you and Derek are really this serious about things, I mean he wouldn't have come back if there wasn't something deep between you. If I can't be happy about, well the obvious, I can be happy about my best friend finally having someone who cares about him." Scott replied softly as he hugged his best friend close.

"Thanks Scott." Stiles said hugging back before pulling back a bit. "Now, think you can deal with algebra?" he asked as he stood up and let his hand dangle down to help his borderline brother up.

"Do I have to go?" Scott asked as Stiles pulled him up off the tiled floor of the showers.

"You do if I do, and I do, so yes, yes you do." Stiles said as he half dragged the Alpha werewolf out of the locker room and to off to their next class.

Classes wrapped up that day and Scott ended up bringing Stiles with him to work, pulling in to see Derek's car already at the clinic. "Well, this is either a really good thing or a really bad thing." Stiles said as they made their way into the building, by the time they made it into the back where Derek and Alan had been talking the conversation suddenly ceased, Derek looking up at Stiles and Deaton to Scott.

"Hello Stiles, I trust you wanted to look over the book some more?" Alan asked as he got up from his seat and moved over to a desk and running his hand over the surface signifying where the best place would likely be.

"Yeah…" Stiles said trying to gauge Derek's feelings of the moment, they seemed a mix of relief and apprehension, one of the strangest he'd seen paired together, but two he was very familiar with. Derek was hiding something, and now Stiles was going to have to work to figure out what. But he had a few things of his own he wanted to plan out with Deaton that he needed some one on one time to talk over. "Yeah I would like to, but there a couple of things I need to discuss with you in private. Derek, Scott has a couple things to fill you in on concerning events from last night at the Argent residence." Stiles said hoping to clear the room and get the two werewolves distracted enough to not overhear him.

Deaton caught on easily enough and ushered the werewolves out to discuss the haunting Allison was dealing with, no doubt making both wolves incredibly uncomfortable considering the last time they dealt with Victoria Argent she'd tried to kill them. Once the two were out of the room Deaton turned his attention back to his student and surveyed him for a moment. "So what is it that you don't want Derek to know you're planning?" the druid inquired as he went over to the desk where he was rifling through the book.

"I want to raise the spirit of Derek's mother." Stiles said simply, scanning through the pages as he hunted down anything that would allow him to speak to the dead.

"Why would you want to do that? Don't you think it would be dangerous to do so given what István is doing around here?" Deaton asked.

"Allison's mother was raised but she still seems to be in total control, for now, and that's saying something." Stiles said with a sigh. "Besides, it's not for me…it's for Derek, we ended up talking about her last night and I know he's still going through hell over losing everyone the way he did." Stiles added, not able to find anything at all in his book.

"You want to help him find closure." Deaton said in comprehension of Stiles intentions. Stiles simply nodded, going back to the book and began looking up ways to ward off unwanted spirits. "And I'm assuming what you're researching now is to help Isaac avoid dealing with his father." the druid said as he pointed out the specific symbols and herbs that would work best, Stiles murmuring his thanks. "I can't say I like the idea, but I do greatly admire your level of commitment to Derek, to give him something like this would be one of the greatest gifts you could give him." Alan added as he gently rested a hand on Stiles' shoulder. "Follow me." Alan said gently as he moved back to the large bookshelf to the side of the room and took down another book, a dark marbled brown leather cover with what looked almost like standing stones on the cover. "There is a ritual in here that you could use, it would basically call to Talia from where her spirit is resting and cause it manifest. Now in some cases the spirit can even manifest in a physical manner, but that requires a more prolonged ritual and would need to fall on the night of Samhain." Alan said as he flipped to the ritual up toward the middle of the book, stopping once he reached one that had a diagram of what looked like a circle of crystals and candles.

"You mean Halloween?" Stiles asked, having recalled something he'd researched concerning old pagan festivals and what they were called nowadays.

"Yes, it's the day where the spirits of the dead can more freely move into this plane of existence. This ritual if performed then by someone who has performed this ritual well enough can basically call a physical form of the person." Alan said as he moved over what types of candles and stones Stiles would need as well as how to consecrate the area before he raised anyone. Sage, salt, lavender and dragon's blood to purge the area of any negative forces, then a black and white candle, and a selection of quartz crystals, possibly some sodalite and moonstone to help harmonize the energy used in the ritual. "You will also need an offering of food and drink for her when she crosses over the threshold, most likely wine and honeyed bread, water will also work if you'd rather not have her first trip here be met with alcohol." Alan said with a smirk as Stiles began taking serious note.

"I will say I doubt I have the patience, yes I realize it's only a month away, but still…I don't know it just sucks that we'd have to wait until the end of October." Stiles said as he groaned, placing his head on the table before he heard the door open and then close again. Derek came in looking like he needed a vacation and Scott behind him looking like he wanted to pound Stiles into the dirt for making him tell Derek what had happened at Allison's.

"What's are we doing at the end of October?" Scott asked as he moved over to the book Deaton and Stiles were looking through before Alan shut it.

"Stiles was wondering as to how István was capable of raising the dead, I was showing him methods that may be employed to do so." Alan replied, it wasn't a complete lie so it was easy for him to mask the misdirection. "He was also looking for some wards that you can use to keep any possible ghosts at bay. It ties into the idea of an anchor, having something or someone who keeps you strong and keeps you from giving up on yourself." Deaton said looking between Stiles and Derek. "Scott you may need to find something a bit more sturdy than what yours used to be, I would think your family would be a good one for now, keep you rooted." Alan added as he moved the book over to the shelves. He then moved back over with the pendant he had used when helping explain their solution to the Kanima issue and handed it over to Stiles. "There is another option you can go with Stiles, but it would involve something a little more involved. We'll discuss things another day though in more detail, but for now, ponder over the imagery on that pendant." he said cryptically Derek seeming a bit confused and Scott lost pondering as to whether or not his family would make a good anchor.

A while later Scott and Deaton were engrossed in their work and Derek and Stiles were pouring over the ward concept Deaton had mentioned, effectively it was taking the pain and the dark scars inside them and filling that place with something positive, something that drove them on and kept them steady. The more that Stiles thought about how all of this worked the harder it was to fight the urge to say something. In the end he failed, miserably.

"I'm half tempted to shout 'expecto patronum!' now whenever I backhand one of these guys." he said as he raised the back of his hand and swished it through the air. Scott looked up and just stared at his best friend and shook his head before letting out one of those little sighs he gave when Stiles made such a geeky reference. Deaton actually seemed genuinely amused at the connection Stiles had made and let Scott tend to the poodle on the table.

"Actually Stiles that's a relatively apt comparison. Strigoi to indeed feed on a person's negative feelings until such time as they are left open for the strigoi to push over the edge, much like a Dementor for "Harry Potter", and the best way to keep that from happening is to fill up the little slivers in your aura caused by those negative emotions with positive thoughts, powerful ones that run deeper than the negative, something profound enough that it creates a shield of its own, like a patronus." Alan said as he began drawing a diagram, a human figure with a broken circle around them. "Imagine that this is one of you, you see these void spaces in the circle?" everyone nodded as Alan continued. "These are those events and memories that leave you vulnerable to attack, those self doubts, feelings of guilt, regrets. Those are the things that a strigoi will latch on to, the things they will use to slowly gain control over you. The only way to fill those spots in is to fill them with the opposite of what made them, love, acceptance, confidence." Alan said as he began to fill in those open spaces in the circle. "It also works when there is someone there for you who compliments those weaknesses with their strengths, It creates a natural barrier there which is why you and Derek work so well together, You both have your weaknesses, but you each can cover where the other can not." Deaton explained as he drew two figures with two circles and then overlapped them, the circles completed one another flawlessly.

"So basically in the case of soul mates so long as they have one another they're safe from anything trying to screw with them?" Derek asked as he looked at the illustration.

"Basically, they're effective two halves of a whole, combine them you get something truly united." Deaton said, however it was clear that things were getting tense for Scott in the room when the door closed behind him as he left. "I can only assume that has to do with the break up with Allison."

"And the bonding between her and Isaac." Stiles said feeling like a complete and utter tool. "Here I am with Mr. Perfect and his Ms. Perfect leaves him for the beta of the year." Stiles added bowing his head..

"That is rather unfortunate, she did help him with his insecurities, helped keep him grounded." Alan said looking toward the door before sighing slightly. "I would suggest something, however it could well get my arm broken at the very least." the druid added turning to look at Derek.

"Why are you looking at me?" Derek asked before Alan looked out the window to where Derek knew someone else to be. "You have got to be kidding me, you are not setting Scott up with my sister." Derek said with a stern look on his face.

"I wouldn't dream of it, believe me I've seen you angry enough for my liking, especially when you thought I was an Alpha." Deaton said raising his brow. "However I would be foolish to say that it wouldn't work out for everyone involved." Alan said.

"How exactly could having Cora going out with Scott work out for everyone?" Derek asked, eyes flashing blue.

"Well for one it would unite both packs into one pack, the Hale pack with the McCall pack, this would keep Stiles from having to choose between his best friend and his mate. It would keep you and Cora from having to leave, it would bring a solid base to an otherwise wayward pack and bring in a fair bit more experience to it." Alan said, using cold logic to ensure Derek got his point.

Derek continued glaring for a while until turning around and banging his head against a wall, some dust being knocked loose from the ceiling. "I am not setting this up, if it's going to happen it's going to happen on its own." Derek said throwing his hands into the air in surrender to it. Seemed fate wanted to torment him just a little bit more.

"Babe, it's actually not the worst idea in the world, I mean think about it, at least he'd be showing he has better taste." Stiles said with a shrug. "I mean let's face it, your sister is a huge upgrade from Crazy McArcher-chic." Stiles replied with a smirk getting a blank look from Derek for a bit before the older wolf began laughing.

"Stiles, how the hell do you come up with these nicknames, seriously?" Derek asked as he leaned against the wall. "Remind me to write that one down though for future reference." the werewolf added with a smirk as he went back over to join the druid-in-training.

"So noted." Stiles said taking it down in his druid notes. "From this point henceforth Allison Argent is Crazy McArcher-chic." Stiles said writing it down and then flourishing his hand dramatically, the other two men looking on fondly. "So um, I take it Cora's outside then? Why is she outside?" Stiles asked looking around.

"Because I wanted to discuss something in private with Alan and didn't tell her to come in yet?" Derek said with a shrug.

Scott had left the building, leaving the poodle on the exam table; her treatment tended to he didn't want to be near the apparently magic perfect love couple. He couldn't, not after what had happened between him and Allison. He had truly loved her, it wasn't just some little crush, she'd meant everything to him and now it was over, she'd found a more suitable replacement for him. It stung, it hurt and it clawed at him as he rushed outside and ended up slumping down beside building putting his head in his hands gripping what little of his new haircut as he could. He didn't even realize it when Cora had moved over to sit beside him and didn't even register he presence until she spoke up.

"I could always kick her ass for you." Cora said as she looked off to the other side of the road.

Scott glanced over, wiping the tears that had begun to flow down his cheeks from his face. "Kick whose ass?" he asked trying to act stronger than he was at that moment.

"Save the tough guy act, Derek's been like that for ages and it doesn't work on me. She hurt you; you're like really distant family. So do you want me to kick that hunter chic's ass?" Cora asked simply only to get a shocked and choked expression from Scott in return. "I'll take that as a no. Just saying, you deserve better than some chick who dumps you after you risk your life over and over to save hers." Cora said before getting up to head inside. Scott got up though and reached forward to grab her arm.

"Thanks for the offer." Scott said with a soft smile. "But not only could she handle herself against you but her mother's ghost…"

"Is haunting her, yeah, I heard." Cora interrupted with a raised hand, the exam room might be sound proofed but the rest isn't." the young woman added as she slowly turned to face the Alpha who was still gripping her arm. Scott looked down and let go immediately after he followed her own gaze down to the hand around her forearm.

"Sorry, you and your brother have a knack of rushing off without hearing everything." Scott said with a nervous chuckle. Cora simply rolled her eyes and grinned a little.

"Yeah, and you have a knack for being a total dork." Cora replied before she made her way back to the building. "So do you want to help me interrupt the more than likely Stiles-Derek make-out party in there? Or do you want to stay out here and mope more?" she asked as she opened the door. Scott smirked and followed after here.

"I guess I could go for that, can't have things too perfect now, otherwise they'll get to be too unbearable." Scott said, sharing a wicked smirk with the young Hale.


	17. Bitter is Best Countered by Sweet

The pair of werewolves hadn't expected nearly the reactions they'd received when they came in together, Derek looked stunned, and Stiles looked like he wanted to give Scott a high five while Deaton simply looked amused. The plan to break up some sort of a make-out session was overlooked as they both looked at one another in a confused fashion.

"Okay why does my brother look like someone just whacked him over the head with something?" Cora inquired as she walked over to him waving her hand in his face, earning a scowl in return. She simply raised a brow and placed her hand on her hip. "Save the glare of death for someone who doesn't know better." she added poking her brother in the forehead. "So, still waiting for an answer here, why is he all serious?" Cora asked waving her hands at her brother.

"I'm not touching that subject with a twelve foot pole." Stiles said as he turned around and began setting up a few things on the table, some more shield knots to hand out to their parents, his father, Scott's mom and dad, Lydia's folks. He wasn't sure how she'd explain it to them, but maybe she could tell them that it was some sort of good luck charm thing, rich people went for those things right? Aside from those two there was also Chris, and considering his wife was back from the grave and raising hell in their apartment Stiles figured he'd need it just to get through the night.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think it had something to do with Scott, but since Derek doesn't really care that much about him…" Cora began to say only to get a stern glare from her brother and a somewhat stung expression from Scott. "What? You don't, and it's not like you've shown much otherwise, and now that he's Alpha you don't really tend to worry about anything concerning him. He's a big boy now and doesn't need the big bad Derek Hale watching him right?" Cora asked crossing her arms and looking pointedly at the older Hale.

"I care about everyone here, if I didn't I wouldn't have bothered coming back." Derek said as he stood up and towered over his sister who actually looked like she was backing up a bit. "Scott may be Alpha now but he doesn't have the years of dealing with this kind of shit like we do, now does he?" Derek added sharply.

"Before anyone starts offering to be my adviser or something, allow me to remind you that I don't want your help Derek, the only one here who's ever needed help here has been you." Scott shot back bitterly. Derek simply rounded on him and stalked his way over.

"Yeah, can't forget the fact that you used me to put Gerard out of commission, can't forget about you using me as a scapegoat to save you own ass in the school. Can't forget about the times I ended up swooping in just in time to cover your ass from being killed by Kate or by your own girlfriend. How's that going by the way?" Derek asked coldly.

Scott's eyes began to burn red as he stepped right up to Derek and though he was exerting his Alpha will his burning red were met with a frigid blue. "Back off Derek, I don't want to have to stay late cleaning you off the floor." Scott growled lowly.

"If you want to kill me, go for it, just realize that if you snap and kill me now, you can say goodbye to whatever pack you have. You think they'll respect you for snapping out just because I've called you out on your mistakes? How many times have you done the same about me Scott?" Derek asked stepping back of his own volition. "How about you learn just a little humility and stop thinking that just because you're Alpha, just because you've had help before, and that you've gotten lucky so far that it can't all be taken away from you in the blink of an eye?" he added before turning around to go back to Stiles who was himself now speechless.

Scott was still seeing red, half of what he'd heard from the other werewolf sounded more like a threat to his pack and it had set him off. He moved forward and made to swipe at Derek's back before he found his hand in a vice-like grip, turning to look at his side he saw a very upset looking Deaton gripping his forearm.

"This is a clinic." Alan said through clenched teeth. "This is a place of healing, not a place for shedding blood, especially when it is undeserved." the druid added as he forcibly lowered Scott's arm. "He's right Scott; you do need to learn a little bit about humility. If this is how you are going to run your pack, allowing your emotions to get the better of you, you will lose it." Deaton added firmly, like a scolding parent.

"In Scott's defense, Derek was hitting way below the belt, seriously Derek you crossed the line there." Cora said to the werewolf who had never once turned his face back toward the rest of the group.

"I think he realizes that Cora, then again Scott has ignored Derek's advice time and time again and nearly had it lead him to ruin. Derek is right, Scott has used people in the past, it may have been harmless in its intent, but it has been done. He's even used Stiles before, in order to keep his mother from being bitten by Peter while he was still Alpha. He used Allison to get into the Argent household in order to get a wolfsbane bullet in order to save Derek's life." Deaton replied matter-of-factly. "Neither of them is innocent in any of this, which is why Scott has no justification to strike Derek, nor Derek Scott." Alan added as he moved what had become an increasingly nervous box turtle from the table.

"I have to agree with Deaton dude, you were just as out of line Scott, Derek has been there for all of us, and every time he tried to help you, you ended up pushing him away because you figured you could do better." Stiles said, and Cora looked over at Stiles with a perplexed look on her face. "Yeah, at first I figured he was likely going to be the death of us, but especially after dealing with Peter, after the whole Jackson-kanima fiasco I finally learned to trust him. But you never gave him the same chance, hell after a while it almost feels as though you just saw him as a way to get what you wanted." Stiles said firmly before moving his brown eyes to meet with his best friend's.

"What about Jennifer? Why is it he never realized what she was doing?" Scott asked his face torn between anger and betrayal.

"Scott, she was our fucking teacher. Why didn't _we_ realize what she was up to? She had everyone distracted, and she had that weird-ass "The Craft" style glamour thing going on. How were we supposed to realize what was going on?" he asked back, and on this one he knew he'd knocked Scott right in the ego by the way Scott's face faltered. "Listen Scott, along the line we've all fucked up, except me because well I'm awesome like that. But seriously, you, Allison, the twins, Derek, everyone here has messed up in some way. Hell yes I did screw up a few times, primarily by dragging you into the woods with me in the first place and getting you bitten by psycho uncle of the year. I also ended up hurting mine and my father's relationship by constantly lying to him; I nearly lost everything Scott, hell I nearly lost you at the damn motel." Stiles said to which Scott simply continued shrinking in on himself. "Just drop the big bad Alpha act already, it didn't get Peter anywhere but buried, it ended up getting Derek hurt worse than you'll probably ever realize and you saw how it changed Deucalion. Do you really want to end up going the same way?" Stiles asked only to see the hurt expression on Scott's face. Stiles' remained steady as he looked at who was practically a brother to him, but eventually he let out sigh and took a step closer. "I'm not asking you to be his best friend, but I am asking for you to drop the pride and let him help you when you don't know what the hell you're doing, because trust me dude, you're not going to. You've been a werewolf a grand total of a little over a year, you've been an Alpha for barely a month, I mean hell the next full moon will be coming any time now, do you really think you can handle keeping your entire pack in check on your own?" Stiles added only making Scott shrink back more and more as the Alpha began to arrive at the same conclusion as everyone else in the room.

He didn't have a clue, he'd never led anything, not really, not even the lacrosse team, and he had Jackson there before. But the twins were both Alpha's, they could help…but then again they'd started out Omegas, and things had never really been anything more than that, even in Deucalion's pack, they were just cannon fodder. Derek had been in the same place, but he knew so much more than any of them did, the best and worst that a pack could face. The Alpha now stood humbled in front of his best friend, Cora stood helpless to one side knowing full well Stiles had been dead on the money. Derek stood in shock and awe at the young druid in training and Deaton simply smiled, knowing full well that he was right to want to train the teen.

"I'm sorry." Scott said his voice small and soft as it slipped like a ghost out of his mouth, but everyone had heard it. The Alpha had been taken down by not another wolf, not some other worldly being but someone who was as good as blood to him, and it had hit full force.

"Okay can we all hug and be nice to each other now? Honestly if I ever have to do something like that again it's going to kill me." Stiles said as he dropped his own guard and slumped. He felt like trash after having torn his best friend a new one the way he had, however that last statement had sounded a bit more sincere to him than perhaps it should have, and it had a similar effect on the others in the room.

"Yeah, yeah I think we can." Scott said moving over to the older werewolf. "Can you forgive me for being a stuck up pain in the ass?" he asked the older wolf.

"No." Derek said causing Scott to look crestfallen. "I can however forgive you for being a stubborn pain in the ass though." he added with a smirk before pulling the younger werewolf into an embrace before pulling him into a headlock and giving him a noogie. "Can you forgive me for being an overbearing jerk that almost constantly causes everyone's lives to go to hell?" he inquired in return.

Scott slowly worked his way out of the headlock and gave Derek's arm a few playful jabs. "Yeah, I can do that." the Alpha said with a smirk, it even seemed like Cora was smiling, but as Stiles glanced over she covered it up quickly enough.

"Okay before I start puking can we please get back to why my brother was looking like he'd seen a ghost?" Cora asked, true to form at staying on course.

Derek glanced over to Stiles as though asking him if they really had to point it out, Stiles shrugged but gave the sign that he'd cover it. "Well when we saw you walk in with Scott we thought it looked kinda weird, timing and all. Hell I hadn't even known you were here until Derek told me before you walked through the door." Stiles said with a shrug, entirely honest as well, if omitting a few details.

"Why would the timing be weird?" Cora asked causing Derek to turn and lean his head against the wall again; really dreading what was to come out of his mate's mouth.

"Well we were talking about how Scott needed someone who wasn't some mentally unstable hunter, or as I have dubbed her Crazy McArcher-chic, seriously it's written down in my notes." Stiles said earning a disapproving look from Scott. "Hey, she dumped you bro, I'm sorry but mercy flew out the window on her. Anyway we were talking about how he needed someone who wouldn't be as prone to shooting him or leaving him over and over again. Stable, smart, not likely to be turned if he accidentally shifted…" Stiles began to trail.

"Stiles will you stop rambling and start making some damn sense already?" Cora groaned out, getting a headache from his incessant yammering.

"Point is we were thinking if there were anyone who would work better for Scott to maybe date and here you two come walking through the door together." Stiles said gesturing to the door. At that mention Scott and Cora glanced at each other, blank faces before looking back at Stiles with their mouths hanging half open as though wanting to say something.

"You're crazy." Scott and Cora said in unison, immediately looking back at one another before Cora bolted out of the room and Scott went over and hid in a corner.

"That's what I told both of these guys when they mentioned the idea." Derek said as he rubbed his forehead which had been leaning against solid wall the entire time.

"You guys can't be serious, you think Allison was bad? What if I made Cora angry? Hell Derek you'd probably kill me the second she and I tried to go alone somewhere." Scott said looking up at the older Hale sibling.

"Scott, I haven't seen her since she was eleven, I have no clue what she's been up to, for all I know she's already…" Derek began to say before Scott clapped his hands over his ears.

"Dude I so do not need to know about your sister's hypothetical sex life." Scott whined out.

"Considering if you two even did get involved that's all you two have right now I'd think you would want to know about it." Stiles choked out as he tried to fight back some laughter. He got cold stares from both of the werewolves and raised his hands in surrender before getting back into the conversation. "Way I see it Scott Allison has moved on, you need to do the same, and I could literally think of dozens of people that are worse than Cora." Stiles said as he moved his way over.

"Yeah, like who?" Scott asked as he looked up at his best friend, wondering if he had an actual list or was just going to stammer and admit he had no idea.

"How about every single girl that goes to school with us? How about all the girls in town who don't have a clue who you are and likely have had every STD in the book…I mean yes you're immune to most of them, but still, dick rot still happens man." Stiles said as images from health class played through both their heads making them flinch.

"Okay, okay, I get it, she's available, she's a werewolf, she's less likely to want to shoot me with a wolfsbane bullet and she's not intent on making my life hell." Scott said once the images of diseased penises were out of his head.

"No, that would be me that she makes life hell for." Derek said as he moved over. "Happens when you're the big brother, and believe me, she'd probably jump at the chance to do so by dating you." Derek said with a withering look.

"I don't know if that's and insult or a compliment." Scott said looking genuinely lost as he glanced to Stiles who simply shrugged. "I'm guessing more insult." he added glaring back a little.

"Don't feel bad about it, anyone she'd date would make my life hell; at least if it's you I won't feel bad if I have to kick your ass." Derek said with a smirk causing Scott to shake his head a little in response.

"Gee thanks, that makes me feel better." Scott said as he slowly got up off the floor. "So do you think she'd actually go for me?" Scott asked looking toward the door.

"Well let's see, you're an Alpha, you're hot, you have amazing taste in friends, particularly ones named Stiles, and you have a puppy dog look that could stop a Spetnaz officer." Stiles replied as he nudged Scott playfully.

"I do have that now don't I. What about you Derek? You think you could deal with me possibly dating your little sister?" Scott asked as though expecting Derek to magically become an Alpha again and end up killing him on the spot.

"To be honest, I have no clue, but based on the way her heart was beating before she left I think she's holding something back, also I can't understand why she'd have gone to your place the night we came back if there wasn't something there already." Derek replied. He'd had an inkling that Cora might have a connection with Scott once she'd decided to go there instead of asking to stay there at Stiles' or trying to find someone else who would take her in.

"Well, if you're okay with it, and if she's interested…it might just help me get over Allison to have someone who's actually there for me and isn't just going to drop me after a month or two." Scott said as he looked out the door, squaring his shoulders. "Should I ask her out now? Or…I don't know." Scott said getting fidgety.

"I'd give it a while to sink in." Alan said, finally entering the situation. "For now I need help with a few rabbits that were brought in today. Stiles, Derek, I think I've done all I can for today, and Stiles don't forget about doing some research on that pendant. Derek, you should go home with Cora and tell Al about some of the wards Stiles is planning to implement." Alan added as he gestured to the door.

"Alright, Scott, you need me to pick you up after work?" Stiles asked, Scott nodded a bit before Stiles nodded back. "Alright, just give me a call. As for you Mr. Hale," Stiles began to say as he moved closer to the werewolf, "I will see you tomorrow night after lacrosse practice." the teen said before leaning up and kissing him softly, Derek doing the same as their arms wrapped around one another.

"Oh, right that reminds me Derek, way to go." Scott said giving the werewolf a thumbs up.

Derek looked at Scott quizzically before looking at Stiles who simply sighed and pressed his head to Derek's chest before whispering something of needing a scent removing soap next time. Derek simply went red in the face and looked over at Scott and glared a bit. "Not cool." was all that the werewolf said before carting himself and Stiles out of the door and into the lobby of the clinic. "I'm sorry babe; I didn't think he'd be sniffing in on our private matters." Derek said softly as Cora came into view.

"What you mean that stink of sex that you ended up coming home with? Gods Derek I mean come on it doesn't matter what you use, pheromones are pheromones." Cora said as she pushed up from the chair she was in. "So we can go home now right?" She asked. Derek nodded and then left Stiles with another gentle kiss before leaving Cora rolling her eyes as they did.

Back at the school Vivian and Marin were in her office talking, ever since Mr. Norton had decided being Superman was a fun idea. Two cups of tea had been poured and were sitting there on the desk as the pair looked out at the clouds gathering outside, Vivian visibly shaking.

"An early frost, how I detest this time of year." the fae said as she pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders.

"Well we can't all be summer court fae like you Vivian, we make due with coping with it." Marin replied bluntly. Vivian simply gave her a small, bitter looking smirk.

"Listen I understand it if you don't like having the courts taking a direct hand in how things are being run around here, but you haven't given us much choice now have you? Between the nemeton, the werewolves are running rampant, _darachs_ running rampant. Really now it was only a matter of time before one of the courts sent an ambassador to try and settle things. Now with a bunch of angry dead floating about you're going to be glad that it was me and not one of those winter court drabs." Vivian said taking a sip of her tea.

"At least the winter court would corral them all into one area and help us clean up; all you've been doing is pushing them out to feed on other towns and on the local livestock. There have been twenty unexplainable animal deaths and at least five more suicides since yesterday." Marin said her voice like ice which grated against Vivian's ears.

"Well I'm sorry if I'm doing a substandard job, perhaps I should just leave, how would that suit you Marin, hmm?" she inquired he eyes swirling with a fire inside them.

Marin froze up a bit before letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, but my brother and I haven't exactly wanted to get caught up in messes like this, hell, he was practically retired." she said taking a sip from her own cup.

"A druid never retires Marin; you know that, especially Emissaries. So long as their pack lives they must serve it to the best of their ability or else train someone to take over, they cannot abandon their duty." Vivian said her eyes cooling again though remaining steady.

"Then you understand why Alan is so keen on training Mr. Stilinski." Marin replied as he leaned forward. "Do you even recall his mother Vivian? Claudia?" the druid inquired firmly.

"He's Claudia's child?" Vivian asked, nearly choking on her tea as he looked down at Marin. "I had no idea, I mean yes I knew she'd married outside of the knowledgeable community, but I had no idea…you realize that she had intended to train her eventual child herself, did you not?" Vivian asked as she let the tea sit a bit.

"I do, but when she died no one was able to show Stiles his potential, he's learning now, but he's been left to do so alone up until now, most begin learning once they are old enough to read, he's only been able to start in the last year." Marin replied as she eyed the fae carefully.

Vivian simply smirked. "You doubt your brother's ability? You doubt Claudia's cleverness? She'll have come up with something to help him along the way, give him a boost to get him through things swiftly." Vivian added as she relaxed some.

"You think that explains his ADHD?" Marin asked as she looked out the window as a distant rumble of thunder echoed over the town.

"I do, to focus and retain many things at once, I have noted he can research things fairly quickly and recall them just as easily. He's a fast learner, like his mother, and his mother's mother, and his mother's, mother's father. He's just like that entire line; I'm looking forward to see where he can go." Vivian said as she drained her tea and looked at the dregs, smiling as she turned them to Marin who smirked in turn, the stag bust clear in the dregs.

"You think he can deal with this then?" the caramel skinned woman inquired drinking her own tea down to look at her dregs, getting the same pattern in her own cup.

"Does that answer your question Marin?" Vivian said warmly as she spied a single beam of sunlight stabbing through the storm clouds in the distance. "He'll make a wonderful High Priest." she said as her contentment bubbled up and flowed from her to warm the room.


	18. More Research Always More Research

It had been a rather typical evening once Stiles got back home, he'd taken some time before going back to pick Scott up from work to do as Alan had suggested and investigate the pendant he'd been given. A seated human figure with stag horns, it was something Stiles had looked into as soon as he'd noticed the very clear Celtic influences of the clinic, the ogham on the herb cases and the like. The figure was a representation of Cernunnos, the Horned God, leader of the Wild Hunt, master of the cycle of life and death, consort of the Mother Goddess, all that fun stuff. He was also frequently called on in rituals concerning fertility, the passing of the seasons so on and so forth. However the big thing was that he was almost exclusively invoked by high priests. Something about that sent a jolt up Stiles' spine when he'd read up on it, definitely something to bring up with Alan the next time he saw him. He'd also made a note of seeing how the deity was tied into life and death, might not be a bad idea to see if simply asking for his assistance to help Derek would be sufficient instead of having to wait a full month for a more opportune moment.

By eight though he'd received a particularly drained sounding text from his best friend asking him to drag him back home so he could pass out. Stiles smirked upon reading the text and got up and began to make his way downstairs, his father still being at work leaving the house fairly still and silent. He made his way over to the jeep after locking the door behind him only to turn and see something shifting in the trees across the street. It wasn't a shadow, quite the opposite; it was bright and almost looked to be dancing in the branches of the small copse of trees in the distance. He stayed there, transfixed for a moment before his phone went off again and he was snapped back into reality. He quickly replied to Scott's grumpy text and headed off, mind full of Celtic gods and dancing lights.

"What took you so long?" Scott asked as he pulled himself into Stiles' vehicle. It looked like he'd been run ragged, looked like Deaton was punishing him for his hubris earlier.

"I was doing that research Deaton asked me to do, I lost track of time, and why are you so crabby? Did Deaton make you clean out all the kennels or something?" Stiles asked, the look on Scott's face was priceless, he was right on the money.

"Apparently since I need to learn some restraint and remember what's really important, I needed some humbling." Scott groaned a little. "I swear I never want to be around a kennel again."

Scott laughed a little before shaking his head as they pulled up to the McCall residence. "Hey, can't blame the man can you? If he figures you need a smack to the ego I think he'd be obligated to do so himself. At least he knows that he won't end up pissing you off more." Stiles added as Scott slumped out of his jeep and stood there a moment longer.

"I know, it doesn't mean I need to like it does it?" Scott asked leaning in a bit and looking woefully at Stiles.

"No, but you should learn that you can't keep acting like you can do everything on your own all the time, you can't lead when you don't even know what it is you're leading." Stiles said his voice a bit more serious. "So do me a favor Scott and don't go shutting yourself off or trying to be the tough guy." Stiles added gently.

Scott nodded before looking back up. "Yeah, I know, but then again it's not like I've had the best role models Alpha-wise." Scott replied with a sigh. "It's not like there's a manual for this stuff." Scott added.

"Why not go ask Al? He seems to know his stuff, he's been at it since he was your age and he had people there to teach him the ropes, so he could probably teach you a few things himself. That and he isn't some power hungry psychopath out for revenge." Stiles added with a shrug.

"That actually might not be a terrible idea…I'll go see him tomorrow after practice." Scott said as he thought it over, it actually made a great deal of sense. Álmos had been through the worst sorts of hell, and despite that remained a centered, positive individual. Maybe the gypsy wolf would have an idea as for the kind of approach he should take with his pack.

"Good, now um, what about what we talked about at the clinic, you know after Cora left? Think you'd actually go through with it?" Stiles asked causing Scott to become visibly flustered.

"Not smelling like I do right now, I mean seriously, I swear that ever single inch of those things was waiting for me to step in something unpleasant, I scrubbed everything out, but with noses like she and I have, yeah, I'm waiting a solid week now until this stuff fades." Scott finally managed to ramble out dismally.

"Honestly didn't need to know about that, but it's good to know you're thinking about her opinion on the matter." Stiles said diplomatically. "Okay then, I think that covers everything." Stiles said as he got ready to head off.

"Not quite, what was it that you and Deaton needed to discuss that was so important that you had to shove me out to talk to Derek?" the Alpha werewolf asked, now more serious himself.

"Nothing, there's just something I needed to ask him, something that I want to do for Derek to help make him less of a target for things of a dark, wispy, haunting nature." Stiles babbled out. It was once again total honesty, vague, but honest.

"If it was something like that than why couldn't Derek or I have been in there to listen in?" Scott asked, and on that one Scott had Stiles at a loss for an explanation.

"I…I can't really tell you, it's just something that I know will mean a lot to him, and I want to help him." Stiles said, trying to avoid answering. Scott got the point that Stiles likely had a good reason not to divulge too much for a change. It was true that Scott didn't exactly have a record for keeping his mouth as shut as it should be at times so it was likely a good thing that Stiles was keeping his mouth shut on it for him.

"Okay, just, please promise me you're not going to end up having to kill someone or something in order to get it done." Scott replied wondering if blood sacrifices were called for in any druid rituals.

"No, no worries there, we save the chickens and the first born children of the local nobility for more special events." Stiles said with sarcasm dripping from his every word. "Dude, druids aren't all crazy mass murdering psychopaths, in fact for the most part things are pretty chill except for when you're protecting yourself. You should have seen me yesterday I backhanded a strigoi through a wall, it was _awesome._" Stiles said closing his eyes and splaying his hands out.

"I'll have to take your word for it." Scott said with a smirk. "Though if you're totally serious then I guess you're the Mace Windu of the group right? Gotta keep that pimp hand strong?" Scott asked with a laugh.

"I'm sick of these mothafucking ghosts in my mothafucking town." Stiles replied in his best Samuel L. Jackson impersonation as he whipped his hand back and forth causing the two to crack up further. By the time the laugh fest had died down Scott was looking better and Stiles was feeling more optimistic that this pack merger that Deaton suggested may happen, could yet work out. "So you think you can deal with things without biting someone's head off now?" Stiles asked as he got ready to head off again.

"Yeah I think I can, you take care I'll see you tomorrow bro." Scott said giving the other teen a fist bump before heading inside to tackle life with his family as Stiles returned to his own domicile, and with any luck to his father being home for once.

On the other side of town Cora and Derek had pulled up to the loft, parking a fair distance away before making their way inside. Álmos was still up and mixing something in a dish, the smell was fairly pungent, mostly a mix of sage and garlic by the way it was hitting their werewolf nostrils. There was also a slight scent of ozone to the air as though there had been a lightning strike, and then they realized that there was a small scorch mark on the floor, if by small the size and rough shape of a humanoid figure was small. The gypsy wolf looked up with a tired smile as the two moved into the main room and he walked over and pulled them close.

"I am glad that you did not arrive an hour earlier, there was one particularly nasty ghoul who decided to make her presence known, screaming something about killing that puffed up wannabe Alpha, nasty creature." Álmos said with a sigh as he went back over to sit by the bowl of herbs. "I apologize for the smell, but it is one of the only ways I can think to both drive away the stench of strigoi and mask it at the same time. It almost reminds me of my great-aunt's cooking, she did very much like her garlic." the gypsy wolf added as he sent a small burst of static discharge into the dish to send the scorched scent of the two plants into the air.

"Can't keep those vampires away without it, can you?" Cora asked only getting a raised brow from the Alpha in the room.

"And what do you know of vampires?" Álmos inquired as he appraised the young female beta.

"Not a thing really, I don't recall having dealt with them much." Cora said with a shrug. "Unless you count that one club I went to, that was just freaky, and this is coming from a werewolf. Tried to convince me to let them feed off me, I told them unless they wanted their faces shredded off they'd back off, let them see a bit of the eye flash and they all backed down. Kinda funny but not something I'd be keen to do again." she added, cringing at the one really slimy looking guy who tried to get into her personal space.

"You know, I remember a story that my uncle told me once, vampires, the way everyone today sees them, they are not real vampires. No, today's vampire is just a fable to make people believe the hype. Do you know how those stories started?" Álmos asked, getting a shake of the other two werewolves' heads. "Basically a bunch of nobles got really drunk and killed a bunch of people and then though it might be cool to drink the blood of the people they killed. In short, it comes from stupid, drunk, rich people who got bored." the gypsy wolf said with a smirk getting a chuckle out of Cora and an amused look out of the taller Hale. "Anyway I take it that you have brought some information from Deaton as to help ward off these spirits better?" he asked looking to Derek.

Derek nodded and began to explain the technique Deaton had mentioned, even going so far as to mention the "Harry Potter" reference Stiles had made, earning a smirk from Álmos and an eye roll from Cora. He then mentioned that Deaton figured that the reason why he and Stiles hadn't really been bothered was because of whatever fairy-tale inspired bond he had with his mate.

"That technique will indeed work, however to depend on another in that regard can be a hindrance. You should look for a way to root yourself and not rely too heavily on someone always being there. Things can happen to delay someone from being there; can keep you from being there for them. As strong and wonderful as your bond is you cannot hold solely to that to save you, you must learn to fill those voids with your own. Your love can help guide you, but it cannot guard you flawlessly, it can drive you to find those hidden strengths within yourself, but it cannot be them." Álmos added softly. "I mean look at me, no mate, and no destined bond to be with someone forever. I have learned to find where my weaknesses are, faced them and accepted them as what they are. My fears, insecurities, they are there, but they are not who I am, as such those gaps do not dominate my life." Álmos explained. "They are nothing more than windows that help me look at myself and remind myself that I still have vulnerabilities, but also to know I have the strength to move on regardless how badly they may be triggered."

Derek and Cora listened in and nodded. It was true; relying on another person in order to keep you safe was a flaw. If you can't guard yourself, how can you guard someone else? Derek knew his weaknesses, but he was still coming to terms with so many of them, dealing with his own demons, his guilt and regrets. Cora seemed the more confident out of the pair, but even she had some damage, but she had learned that rolling with the punches and charging onward worked well for her.

"Also Derek was Alan able to help answer your inquiry?" Álmos asked as the momentary silence bore down on them all.

Derek was snapped out of his thoughts by the question and looked squarely at his cousin. "What inquiry? I don't think I know what you mean." Derek responded hastily.

"Cora, could you excuse us for a moment?" Al asked the younger Hale and she simply huffed and climbed the stairs to her room mumbling something about werewolf drama. Once she was safely out of hearing distance Álmos returned his focus to the other werewolf. "I mean the fact that you want to commit yourself to your mate, not just in word but in a more binding fashion." Álmos explained. "I do not mean in a sexual manner either, I can already tell that much has happened."

Derek simply stared at the floor for a moment before looking up. "I know he's too young for anything legally binding, but I know that there is an older way that I can pledge myself to him than just asking him to outright marry me." Derek said before moving over to sit down. "I know it's crazy, I mean at first we wanted to kill one another and now we'd do anything to keep the other from being hurt."

"Sounds like the typical wolf romance to me, starts in difficulty, but in time they prove to be far from the threat or the annoyance they were perceived as. In time a fondness forms that draws them together." Álmos said softly. "I know what it is you are looking for, but I think you should wait until after the Full Moon to ask him about it. I believe he has something planned as well." the gypsy wolf said with a smirk, his eyes closed as he allowed the soft whispers of what was to come seep into his mind, when he opened his eyes they were wet with tears. "It is truly beautiful what you two have, every blessing in the world be on it." Álmos said as he moved over and kissed his cousin's forehead before moving off toward his bed. "Sleep well when you reach your own bed my cousin." Al added softly before turning in for the evening.

Derek went over to sit down as he saw Al go and lay down behind his little curtain, before going upstairs to his own bed. He ascended the stairs up to his room, closing the door behind him before going down to sit on his bed. He almost didn't want to wait until the Full Moon, but he realized that Álmos had a point, the last thing he wanted to do was rush things too fast, waiting would give him more time to figure things out, find out exactly how he was going to approach Stiles concerning this. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, opening it to reveal a very small band, two hearts joining around a heart. He stared at it for a while, it wasn't like he was asking Stiles to elope, or ask him to marry him at all really. He just wanted that solid binding commitment, to know that when they were both ready that they'd be there and ready to take that jump together.

"You actually like seriously love him don't you." Cora said as she poked her head in on her brother while he was zoned out. Derek simply nodded his head before shutting the box and putting it on top of the side table next to his bed. "Alright then, I won't be as big a pain in the ass as I have been, if he's that important to you then he will be to me, however, if he hurts you I'm the first to rip his head off." Cora stated bluntly as she moved over and sat down beside her brother.

Derek smirked before looking at his little sister, pulling her over and hugging her slightly. "Alright, I can agree with that." Derek said before Cora extricated herself from her brother's arm.

"As for earlier today, harsh much? I mean seriously I know Scott can be a pain in the ass but you hit a bit too low." Cora said as she stared at her brother a bit more firmly.

"Don't go running to his defense, especially since you thought he was just some punk kid when you first met him. You didn't like him any more than I did." Derek said, chastising the young woman for a rather obvious case of hypocrisy.

"Not the point, you're supposed to be the bigger man here, you should have just let it go instead of hitting him back just as hard." Cora said as she poked her brother sharply in the shoulder. "If you want him to actually grow up it might be nice if you did a little growing up yourself."

"I think I've done plenty of growing up Cora." Derek said as he looked over to his little sister, and it was true, the years had not been kind and though still young Derek carried more on himself than he would have ever cared for. Cora looked down this time; she was feeling like the bad guy now for suggesting Derek hadn't grown up.

"Okay, yes, you have, sorry. But still lighten up on the kid; remember you've made his life pretty damn hard." Cora began to say before Derek spoke up.

"Believe me it's been mutual." Derek said with a sigh as he dropped back on his bed. "But I'll back off once he stops treating me like I'm solely responsible for everything that's gone wrong in his life." the werewolf said before moving to get ready to sleep.

Cora nodded her head at that before responding. "Fair enough, but since you two seem to think that he and I should go out, you might not want to treat him like shit and thus make it so he wants nothing to do with you." Cora added as she patted Derek's hand before getting up and heading back to her room. "Love you pain in the ass big brother."

"Love you too pain in the ass little sister." Derek replied before drifting off, thoughts of what it would be like to have Stiles with him every night helping him dose off. Thoughts of Scott being with his sister as troubling as they were almost made him happy though, almost as though they'd be on their way to rebuilding their family again.

John didn't end up getting back until much later than he had originally hoped, instead being stuck dealing with a few small breaking and entering cases, laughing a bit as he realized half of them sounded like what he used to think his son was doing before he found out otherwise. He made his way up to his son's room to see if he was asleep only to see the faint cool light of what was no doubt his laptop gleaming underneath the door. The sheriff sighed, knocking gently before opening the door. "Hey kiddo, what's got you up so late, homework?" John asked as he stole a glance at the screen seeing what appeared to be a half-naked man with antlers lying down in grass, stag antlers standing out from his head and a wolf laying down to one side and a deer to the other. "What's this?" he asked looking pointedly at the image.

"Cernunnos, Celtic deity, Deaton gave me a pendant that had his image on it; wanted me to do some research." Stiles said simply as he scrolled through the page.

"Okay and what did he want you to know about this guy?" John said, not daring to pronounce the name himself.

"No clue, but from what I can tell he's one of the more important ones, rules over the balance of nature, life and death, the seasons, stuff like that, keeps things running the way they're supposed to be." Stiles said before turning to face his dad. "He's also a deity who is invoked during the major festivals, mostly by High Priests." Stiles said as he let out a sigh and turned back to the computer. "Other than that he's part of something known as the Wild Hunt, this kinda supernatural deal that goes after people who basically go against the laws of nature and well, the hunt wipes them out. Thing is the hunt will also take out anything that gets in its way, so it's kinda temperamental." Stiles said as he leaned back in his chair, nearly tipping it over before he sat bolt upright again.

"Would strigoi fall under that by any chance? Because honestly I might pray to that guy if it helps clean up this town." John said heaving a sigh of his own as he rubbed his forehead. "I've had some calls from some of the other local departments around Beacon Hills, five more suicides since yesterday." he said softly. "All unexplained, no history of depression, some minor brushes with unpleasant things in the past, but still."

"Well dad seeing as they are neither living nor dead, I'd say breaking the laws of nature definitely applies to them. I'd have to see whether or not Deaton knows if he could be invoked or not to help deal with this, hell maybe that's what he had in mind." Stiles said and then something else hit him and he went to another site. "As if the timing couldn't be more fitting…dad, do you know what the Full Moon in October is called?" Stiles asked swerving around with a grin on his face.

"No but I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway." John said as he folded his arms over his chest and looked over to his son.

"It's called the Hunter's Moon." Stiles said as a strange gleam hit his eyes. "I'm going to talk to Deaton again Thursday, I'd go tomorrow but I have practice and so does Scott." Stiles said before shutting his computer down.

"Why would you go looking for what the different moons are called?" John asked as he looked at his son as he started getting ready for bed.

Stiles was actually stumped on that question, he wasn't sure why, he knew that when he and Scott were looking to see if there was a cure that professor, Fenris, had mentioned something about a Wolf Moon. He'd wanted to see what a Wolf Moon was and had found out it was the name of the Full Moon during the month of January. He'd never really known why it mattered, but then again he'd also recalled that Fenris said it was during that full moon in particular that werewolf packs were supposed to come together in order to reestablish their bonds, test each other. He then realized that it was likely during a Wolf Moon that Derek's family had been murdered.

"Well, it actually has to do with the fact that Derek's family was killed on the Wolf Moon, the January full moon. I heard that moon's name and I guess it just perked my curiosity." Stiles said shrugging.

"Just, don't let yourself get too curious okay kiddo? You know how the saying goes." John said figuring the one in question was too obvious to mention.

"Yes dad I know, now can I get some sleep now?" Stiles asked as he began to strip down and get ready to sleep. John nodded before stepping back out and wishing his son pleasant dreams. Stiles slipped into bed and pulled a pillow into his arms, his head on the other. "If only it weren't so hard for me to _not _be so damn curious." he added as he eventually slipped off.


	19. Great Big Mess

"I'm growing impatient with you Hale." a cold voice rang out in the corner of the small little apartment of the oldest remaining Hale family member.

"I'm working as fast as I can, these kids are unfortunately not as stupid as you think, I tried to get to the point where I could reach McCall's father, but I saw him go into the Argent's place. He came out smelling like wolfsbane. He knows." Peter replied shortly. "So unless you want the one other piece you have on the board aside from yourself to die, you're screwed." he added firmly.

"The only piece I have on the board? You think to highly of yourself, you're not the only person I have to help sway events around here. Or rather you won't for long once I can find someone who won't kill themselves after twenty hours of playing puppet." Peter's ghastly visitor groaned out. "Truthfully the people of this time are far weaker willed than when I was alive, so keen on expecting life to hand you what it is you want. No effort to take what it is you are due."

"I agree, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered offering you my assistance, I would be trying just as hard as everyone else to get rid of you instead." Peter said as he slowly picked himself up from his couch.

"You're not exactly the best liar Peter, you've sided with me ever since I took over my own son, you could feel my power, and do not try to claim ignorance. I know how much you crave power, I know how badly you want to prove to the world that you aren't the runt of an Omega that you were when your sister was alive." the spirit slowly trailed out, the last bit with venom as he grew closer to the resurrected werewolf.

"Watch it István, you may have a one up, but this is still my home, and I can and will kick you out without a way back in." Peter growled, his cold blue eyes glaring into the dull grey of the specter.

"I will always have a way into this place; I will always be able to haunt you Peter. You have killed and been killed, you have gained power and lost it, the darkness that runs inside you Peter is so much like my own it astounds me." István said as he moved closer and gripped Peter's hair in a balled fist. "So know your place cur, or I will have to punish you again, except this time, I may well take your life and make you the puppet you have always been." the twisted apparition snarled. "Or perhaps I should do my own dirty work and take over that pathetic excuse of a whelp you call a nephew. His darkness is nearly as dark as your own, and he's already proven himself a marvelous little puppet to so many other people."

"We had a deal, I kill him and Cora, you kill your grandson, and we all live happily ever after." Peter said. Internally the thought of having Derek toyed with any more than he already had been turned Peter's stomach. He'd much rather be able to put the miserable wolf out of his misery than see him get used by yet another psychopath out for power, even if it was him and this evil spirit haunting him.

"The only reason I need you alive is so my line won't be polluted by the filth of your family's line, you're nothing the crossbred abominations. I'm not at all surprised that hunters wiped you out; I would have done the same. Perhaps I should pay these Argents a visit and thank them." István added, goading Peter, almost daring him to snap and strike at him.

The rage boiling in the still living werewolf was nearing its breaking point, he wanted to shred this bastard apart for belittling him, insulting his bloodline, treating him like a pawn and not like the king he truly was on the board. He fought hard to reel himself in, struggling to keep himself from acting out and getting that ghostly hand shoved back into his chest again. His anger only fed István, as did his fear and pain. He had to keep it all held in or else risk being just another mindless drone under his sway.

"I will try again tomorrow, Scott's father may know about werewolves, but I don't think he'll know about me." Peter said before turning on couch in his living room and trying to rest some more.

"Good boy, keeping control like you do for your superior. Let me down again though, and you and yours can enjoy your well-deserved extinction." István said before fading through the wall into another room, Peter's bedroom to be precise.

"_I swear to god I am going to kill him long before he thinks of killing me._" Peter thought to himself before allowing himself to get some sleep.

István didn't linger for too long, he actually did want to make a visit to these hunters to see what exactly it was that he was dealing with, making his way across the town to the large apartment complex that they called home. He wasn't expecting to find another presence there, at least not one that wasn't under his direct influence. "Well now isn't this something unexpected." István said as he came face to face with the form of Victoria Argent.

"You must be István, listen, very carefully, I don't care who you are, or what you want. But if you so much as lay a finger on my daughter or my husband I will tear you apart, ghost or not." she said glaring as she and the other entity hovered a good thirty feet over the ground.

"I'm not interested in your impotent threats woman, you're already dead and I can render you such again if I wish. I came here to see what it is that is causing my lovely puppet from getting his job done." István said moving to pass by Victoria's apparition, only to be startled when she not only got in his way but grabbed him tight by the neck.

"I told you, leave my family alone." Victoria said, eyes stabbing at the other spirit. "You could send me back to my grave but I would come right back and turn you into a pair of nice boots." Victoria stated. It wasn't a blind rage, it wasn't anger or something István could feed off of, it was something else entirely. It was a confidence, a power that drove her to the point where her hand felt like hellfire against his neck. When she saw the fear in István's eyes she smiled sadistically. "Good boy, now go back to whatever trash heap you came from." she added before forcibly throwing the werewolf's spirit to the ground.

István barely had time to stall himself from striking the ground below, but he managed to just shy of being forced back beneath the earth. He glared up at Victoria's form before smirking and rising back up. "I should have known better than to threaten a mother bear and her cub." he said before turning around. "Next time I'll be sure to bring a gun." he added before fading off as the grey light of morning began to rise on the horizon.

Victoria looked on as the figure retreated into the shadows, her own form looking up wearily at the soft light growing in the sky, turning around herself to move back into her husband's office. "If this is my punishment for trying to kill Scott then remind me not to do so in my next life, if I have a next life." Victoria said looking at the ceiling before shaking her head before her form faded into a loose mist that settled in the corner of the office.

The team of teens all had mixed mornings the following morning, Allison dealing with her mother's ghost trying to tell her what to wear, and telling Isaac to keep his hands to himself while they were at school. Scott spent breakfast with his parents, the room somewhat silent, less due to awkwardness or the like, but because between Melissa, Howard and Scott they didn't have much to talk about for once. Well, okay, Scott did but he didn't want to talk about any potential dates with them until he was sure he might have one. Aiden had practically moved in with Lydia, spending most nights with her and then leaving with her in the morning, parking his bike not too far away. Ethan had stayed the night with Danny, now that they'd come out and said what it was they wanted they were fully embracing things. Ethan had woken up quite contentedly using his mate's chest as a pillow and with his arms wrapped snuggly around him. Stiles had ended up waking up to his father shouting about something having torn the screen on one of the windows, and it that was a sign of things to come Stiles felt that the day would follow that pattern. He was thankful to be disappointed for once.

The day was actually fairly normal, for what that was worth, and ran smoother than he'd experienced since before Scott was turned. Class to class, no cops walking down the halls, no animals jumping through the window, in a way Stiles almost missed having Harris there in Chemistry to harass him because that would have made everything perfect. Lunch was full of the usual, the couples all pairing up, but this time Scott was able to make peace with the fact that Allison had seemed to move on, however it seemed something was up with Isaac, though Stiles could assume why, he figured Scott knew as well by the way he smirked a bit once he glanced over at them. Stiles made a point of kicking Scott a little under the table earning a 'What did I do?' expression and Stiles gave Scott a look that would have made Derek proud. Scott looked down in understanding and finished his lunch in silence.

English had been enjoyable as they'd expected, a few awkward scenes acted out by some of the people in the class and some good humored laughs. Vivian seemed genuinely pleased with the progress everyone was making, except for a handful of students who still weren't taking things seriously. They did by the end of the class, somehow inexplicably being only able to speak in rhyme was enough to make them freak out. It didn't hurt that Mrs. Lake had convinced them the only cure would be to get it out of their system by going over their lines. She was a devious person, but she didn't use it to outright harm anyone, maybe teach them a lesson but that was the extent of it. Stiles could appreciate that, even more now that he was starting to become less of an invisible person as a result of it. Then again because he was friends with Scott he'd stopped being totally invisible once he became captain of the lacrosse team. Speaking of such even practice was good, they'd done their usual laps, the werewolves always at the head of the line, and Danny and Stiles close behind due to their practice of always chasing after the group by this point. Afterward the team was split in twos; Aiden and Ethan were split up as were Scott and Isaac, and then the same with Danny and Stiles placing two werewolves and two knowledgeable humans on either side. Whether or not Finstock realized he'd done so he'd actually evened the teams out for a change and all of them found the set up amusing, except for the coach. In the end they couldn't score a goal against either of them, and it left him frustrated.

"The hell is going on here guys, come on, you should be able to score at least _one _goal right?" Finstock asked as he blew his whistle.

"Hey, just think about it this way coach, at least no one else will ever be able to score against us." Scott replied as half the team laughed, the other half getting tired.

"Okay, whatever, one more round and this time I want to see someone score a goal!" Finstock shouted out to the team to which most groaned and the others got more pumped up. Danny waited in his goal, while Ethan filled the other, Aiden and Scott faced down Stiles and Isaac, not exactly the fairest of situations but Stiles was ready. With one glance over to the side of the field however, he felt a sudden surge in confidence as he saw his boyfriend in the stands sitting with Allison and Lydia. When the whistle was blown he immediately swiped the ball over to Isaac and burst his way over toward Danny's goal. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to pull it off, but he had, he'd somehow dashed between the rest of the team and landed himself close enough to shoot. He still wasn't considered a serious issue so the defense was rushing to block the rest of his team. But his team had also taken up the torch and had given Isaac plenty of space to move, even with Aiden and Scott bearing down on him. Isaac knew he wouldn't outrun Aiden, Scott, sure no problem, but Aiden would catch him, so seeing Stiles in range he smiled and sent the ball soaring right into the net of his stick. Stiles smiled having plenty of space to chuck the ball with full force right off the ground and bouncing right into the net, barely avoiding Danny's attempt to block it. He'd scored the sole point of this mock game and he'd loved it. He jumped up in the air, holding his lacrosse stick in the air, giving Isaac that look that just screamed 'You're awesome dude, thank you' Danny looked genuinely impressed and moved out to clap a hand on Stiles shoulder.

"I've never seen you move like that, it was insane, you sure you weren't bitten or anything?" Danny asked as he moved with Stiles over to where the rest of their knot of players was gathering.

"Yes, I'm sure I wasn't bitten, if I had been I'd have been using people's shoulders as kickoff points." Stiles said as they got close enough for Scott to hear him, Scott merely rolled his eyes but nevertheless gave Stiles an awesome bro-hug.

"Stiles, that was pretty awesome, not gonna lie, you were like a fricking antelope of something the way you moved out there." Scott said as he wrapped an arm over the other teen's shoulder and walked him over to sit down with Aiden and Ethan, Isaac already sitting down, a bit winded. "What suddenly made you bust things out like that?" Scott asked as they sat down.

"Stiles wasn't sure as to whether or not Derek would still be there for Scott to point out, figuring he'd pulled on of his show up to inspire him only to poof off tricks. He was genuinely pleased and shocked to see he was wrong as he scanned the stands and jerked his head in the direction of where he and the two girls were sitting; he looked like he was proud of Stiles if the smile on his face was enough to express such. "Dude, I didn't even realize he was here, has he been here this entire time?" Scott asked as he looked over, Derek rolling his eyes.

"I noticed him there just before that last faceoff. Whether or not he was here before that is up for debate, but I'm going to assume it's a yes." Stiles said with a smile on his face.

"Stilinski, have you and McCall been doing some secret training or something behind my back? What's your secret, seriously you two I can't figure it out to save my life." Finstock said as he came over. "Listen here, you keep that stuff up and you're going to make first line no problem." the coach added before going off to order them all back to the showers to wash up and get out of his face. He had good intentions, but he had about as much common sense as a lemming.

The team followed his command though and soon they were all rinsed off and changed and heading out. To top off his day Stiles, just as he was walking out the front door to get to his jeep, found himself being pulled to the side and gently pinned to the wall of the school with two very nice lips pressed firmly to his own. Lips that could only ever belong to one person, especially if that itchy stubble he felt around them told him anything. He wrapped his arms around the muscular frame of his mate and smiled happily as the kiss broke.

"So, since when do you come to see me at practice babe?" Stiles asked as he looked at Derek warmly.

"Since today, but if you keep pulling off what you pulled off today than I might just have to make it a regular occurrence." Derek replied as he leaned back to look Stiles more squarely in the eye. "Danny had a point, if we didn't know better I'd swear someone had bitten you, but I know that if someone had I'd have killed them by now." Derek said as he reached up and caressed Stiles' cheek. "I don't ever want to see you changed into something you aren't. I love you just like this." Derek added before leaning into another kiss.

If the words hadn't been enough the second kiss was more than enough to make Stiles melt some more, sinking into his mate's embrace before pulling back slowly and resting his head on Derek's chest. "I could definitely get used to that, you are after all a very good source of inspiration on the field." Stiles murmured before slowly stepping away from Derek and taking his hand. "So news on the Scott front, no dating Cora until the smell of animal waste is purged from him, Deaton had him cleaning the kennels last night, as for my research on the pendant we wanted me to study…" Stiles began to say before Derek placed a finger over his lips.

"I know who it is, as for the Cora front she seems open to the idea but is insisting I make peace with him before she starts anything." Derek replied with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm going to need to get a winter jacket then." Stiles said, when Derek raised his brow at the statement he shook his head. "For when hell freezes over, seriously the day you and Scott stop wanting to kill one another is the day that happens." Stiles said with a laugh, Derek simply leaned his head against Stiles'.

"You're going to laugh when I tell you what I was thinking about last night." Derek said as he let out a sigh.

"Well, go on, today was good, this could make it better." Stiles urged, wanting to know exactly what was going on in his mate's head.

"I was thinking between you and I, Cora and Scott, if things worked out for them it would feel like I had more of a family again, almost started to make me warm up to the idea of them getting together." Derek said as he nuzzled Stiles' neck softly.

"Not laughing, but definitely liking how today has been going. I could definitely get used to this, having things run smoothly and not have to stress out over the crap we keep finding ourselves in on a regular basis." the teen stated. "Also, I agree, it would feel like one, but the second anyone calls me mom we're putting an end to that." Stiles replied with a smirk.

"But you'd make a great mother figure Stiles, besides, it's really hard for me to picture Derek in a skirt." came another voice from nearby, the sophistication to the tone was more than enough to cause the Emissary in training's blood to run cold. "You don't have your mountain ash with you now, and Derek won't risk shifting when there are still civilians around, now, you two will either follow me, or the next person to walk out that door will be a poor animal attack victim." Peter said as he stepped around a corner and made ready to snatch the next person to come out the door, only to find himself flying backward from the force of the door bursting open. "Are you fucking kidding me!?" Peter shouted as he landed on his ass.

"Peter, what a pleasure it is to finally meet your acquaintance." Vivian said moving forward and crouching down in front of him. "Now I trust you weren't intending to harm my student or his mate, that would simply be bad form, and I know you wouldn't want to hurt me, or else you'd have more than just the ghost of a werewolf with a wounded ego to worry about killing you." she added as he let a flicker of flame dance across her fingers. Peter immediately backed away and stood up. "Be a dear and tell István that the courts are very displeased with him right now." the fae added firmly before turning back to Derek and Stiles. "Run along you two I can handle things well enough here." she said shooing the two away toward Stiles jeep before rounding back on Peter.

The pair took the chance knowing that if anyone could deal with it, it was likely the older woman with the supernatural abilities. Stiles jumped into the driver's seat of his jeep while Derek jumped into the passenger's side. "Call my dad; let him know I'm staying with you again tonight." Stiles said as he passed his phone over to Derek. "He's the number right under yours." Stiles added firmly. Derek nodded and accessed the number and heard it ring a few times before John picked up.

"Stiles, what are you doing calling me at work?" the sheriff asked from over on the other end of the line.

"It's Derek actually, we had a run in with my uncle outside the school, Vivian is handling him, but Stiles wants to stay the night over at the loft, if it's okay by you." Derek said into the receiver.

"He'll be safer there, is there anything I should do to make sure I don't have to worry about him coming into my house while I'm away? Or should I see about staying on a couch over at the loft until we can make sure my place is clear?" John asked as he got up and moved to his window.

"I'll talk to Al and see what we can do, given the situation I'm sure he wouldn't mind, and the last thing we need is for you to get caught again." Derek said as he began to go into serious mode.

"Tell him to let Scott's dad know who Peter is, give him a picture or something, Scott may have told him a few things, but I doubt he's told him certain details." Stiles said to Derek, and Derek nodded, but thankfully he'd spoken loud enough to be heard.

"Tell my son I've got that covered, having everyone getting roped up once was bad enough, so we do this stuff in advance now." John said with a mix of a sigh and chuckle. "Keep me updated as to sleeping arrangements for me."

"I will, we'll see you later tonight, I'm sure." Derek said before hanging up and placing the phone to the side. "I promise you Stiles I'm not going to let your father risk going into that house alone." Derek said as he reached over and took his mate's hand in his own. "You realize we won't have any spare clothes for you right?"

"I know, but I figured Al might have something older that might fit, it would certainly help, and besides, I kinda like his style." Stiles replied with a smirk before they ended up pulling out in front of the loft. "Now let's get inside before something else happens to try and ruin my day."

"Agreed babe, though I have to say, seeing your English teacher knock my uncle on his ass was pretty funny." Derek said with a chuckle as they moved into the building. Today it smelled for of citrus and lavender, not at all an unwelcome scent compared to the sulfur that had been purged the night before. Cora was sitting in the lounge area and as she saw the pair walk in she sighed and closed the book she was looking through.

"Let me guess, our uncle was being stupid." Cora said before getting up and moving to the small kitchen area to grab something to drink.

"Yes, yes he was, got knocked on his ass by a fae though." Stiles said as he crashed on one of the beanbag chairs and relaxed.

"Vivian is fighting Peter?" Álmos asked as he made his way around to see them, he looked like he'd just gotten up, his hair messy and his shirt very blatantly missing, showing off those impressive muscles.

"Um, well she was more threatening him, said something about the courts being pissed with your grandfather." Stiles said as he looked at the ever more increasingly worried looking gypsy. "Why do I have a feeling things are going to get messy?"

"Because they are, things are about to get very messy." Al replied running his hand over his face with a groan.


	20. Watching Over You

**(Sorry for the delay between chapters folks, life has been a bit crazy lately, here you go though, thank you for your patience.)**

"So basically what you're saying is that since the fae are pissed it could throw off the balance of nature itself and cause the entire area to start literally falling apart?" Stiles asked wanting to make sure what Al had just explained had registered properly.

The gypsy wolf had spent the better half of the last few hours explaining that if what Vivian had said was true it meant that every fae, from every court was ready and willing to go out and fight off the threat that István was posing to their territory. By whatever means necessary, even if it meant burning the world itself to do so. Wildfires weren't unheard of and it was clear that lightning could at least stall if not kill a strigoi, it might make sense to just burn them out. However to take the action the courts would take would render the land barren for years and likely cause more harm than good.

"Basically, you would end up suffering the wrath of every season in the course of a few days; it would shock the land and render it damaged. It would also damage the people here, such sudden shifts would put most into shock if not kill them outright. Imagine a sudden summer heat suddenly and violently shifting to a deathly winter chill. It would kill young and old alike, and show no mercy to anyone." Al responded as he wearily sat down. "I for one am both too young and too old to face something like that, or I'm at least certainly feeling as such lately." he added with a sigh, letting his head hang back off the back of his bean bag chair.

"You've been fighting a war haven't you?" Stiles said more than asked, getting up and looking directly into those heterochromatic eyes. Álmos simply looked back and smiled wearily up at the Emissary in training.

"My wards keep failing, even with your help there have been some spirits that have managed to bypass my defenses, and some of them have been growing more difficult to deal with. They've been feeding on the misery around here, I admire Vivian's actions in town I do, but now the angry dead are beginning to go to other towns to feed, and it stretches my abilities to defend so much space." Álmos said with a slight groan.

"You shouldn't have to be alone on it Al, geez! Have you ever thought to ask Morrell or Deaton to step in and help? Hell why haven't you asked me? I may not know much but I can at least try to help." Stiles asked as he nearly screeched down at the Alpha werewolf. Álmos almost looked as though he was recoiling from Stiles very obvious look of disappointment.

"I've been alone for many years now; I'm not accustomed to asking people for help." Álmos said his voice much smaller this time, devoid of his usual confidence. "I guess you become too self-reliant at times, you are right though, I should not be fighting a war like this on my own." Al said as he smiled and nodded his head to the ever impressing Emissary. "I will welcome your aid, and that of the other Beacon Hills Emissaries."

"Good, because you'd get it whether you like it or not." Stiles said crossing his arms defiantly earning a smirk from Derek and a peaceful smile from Al.

"In that case, you can set the wards for tonight, you can start with…" Álmos began to say before looking passed all of them to the still open door of the loft. "Miért én, Gaia? Miért pont én?" he cried out as a shadowy wisp flowed into the structure and rested just inside the door before pulling itself together.

"Derek, you have about five minutes to explain to me why I'm not enjoying a nice long rest in my casket." Victoria said as her form solidified enough to be recognizable. "And then you have even less time to explain why some werewolf's ghost is trying to mess with my family."

"Nice to see you too Victoria, as for your first question maybe there's the fact that you tried to kill an innocent teenager simply because you're psychotically over protective of your daughter. Second question because that same bastard is trying to kill me, my sister, Al here, who happens to be said ghost's grandson, and pretty much anyone else he can feed off of." Derek said a simply as he could.

"So he wants to kill you…maybe I should go looking for him and see if he needs help." Victoria said as she tilted her head to think about it before she noticed Stiles standing there looking annoyed at what he'd just heard. "What's your problem?" she asked tersely.

"My problem is that you'd be willing to side with someone who wants to kill your family and get them out of the way instead of the person who wants to keep them safe. If it weren't for Derek, Allison and Chris would both be dead." Stiles said as he stepped forward, the mark on the back of his hand glowing a bit as his anger began to boil. Victoria noticed the symbol and looked back up at Stiles in an appraising fashion. "I don't care if you're Allison's mother, I don't care if you're a woman, I don't even care if you're dead. You tried to kill my best friend, you tried to kill my boyfriend, you try to hurt either of them I'll do the same to you as I'd do to any ghost." Stiles said firmly, no threat in his tone, simply a very great deal of confident warning.

Victoria stood up straighter as she looked over at Stiles; he eyes still that dead, icy blue as she moved over toward him. "Derek killed me." Victoria said darkly as she locked eyes with the druid-in-training.

"No, you killed yourself because instead of coping with the fact that you were now what you hunted you took the coward's way out." Stiles said, his eyes burning fiercely in contrast to the cold glare of the spirit. "You could have stayed alive; you could have kept Allison from losing her mother and your husband from losing his wife. You were still in charge; you could have changed the damn laws just to keep you and your family together!" Stiles shouted directly into her face. "You could have kept your daughter safe from being manipulated by Gerard and you could have kept Chris from turning himself over to the Darach to be a sacrifice. You know how lucky you are to even have had Derek's help, my help, hell anyone's help to keep _your_ family from being torn apart?" Stiles asked, and it felt as though the air in the room was growing far warmer than it should be.

With each barb, each criticism from the teen Victoria's form drew back, her stony gaze wavered and her disposition broke, she looked genuinely shocked now, if not intimidated. Her form grew fainter as Stiles stepped forward, a draft kicking up around him and blowing the misty outlines of Victoria Argent backward. She eventually found herself back against a wall with him glaring at her, her hands clawing into the brick.

"Stiles…Stiles!" Derek said as he moved over and slowly pulled his mate back from the spirit, the female apparition looking downright terrified. "Stiles, please, calm down." Derek said as he slowly turned the teen to face him. Victoria looked over to the werewolf with a mixed feeling of anger, lingering fear, and something Derek had never expected, appreciation. Stiles looked up into his mate's eyes, his own still burning until he saw Derek's concerned expression.

"I'm sorry babe." Stiles said as he took a deep breath before turning to look at Victoria. "I'm sorry Mrs. Argent; I guess I'm just over protective of my own family." Stiles said as he slowly took Derek's hand in his own.

"In a million years I would have never figured that you would go for a scrawny human for a mate." Victoria said looking a little lost as she looked between the pair. "Especially him." she added with a slight smirk.

Stiles showed her the still slightly glowing back of his hand. "I'm training to be his Emissary; I'm not just some scrawny human anymore." Stiles said firmly, and then he saw Victoria smile, it was almost creepy, but it wasn't a threatening smile.

"So you're a druid then…interesting. In that case maybe you can help keep this dog on his leash and keep him from biting anyone?" Victoria said earning a cold glare from both of them

"I'm not the Hale Alpha anymore." Derek said sternly as he pointed over to his cousin. "He is."

Victoria glanced over to the still very tired looking werewolf sitting in the bean bag chair. "I thought your family was wiped out."

"Immediate sure, even some remote members, but not those belonging to other packs." Derek said moving to hold his mate from behind. "He's from Farkas' old pack, he's Farkas' son." Derek explained earning a sudden panicked expression from Victoria's ghost.

"Oh my god…_that_ pack?" Victoria asked as she looked over at Al who nodded his head tiredly.

"Yes, that pack, now would you kindly not make me feel like I'm on a home invasion show for the paranormal please?" Al asked as he rubbed his forehead. Victoria simply nodded her head before moving toward the door.

"I would like to say this much. Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger. That's the code that Allison and her father follow now, if you're lucky they may well side with you in all this." Victoria said before going out the door only to see Scott making his way in. The teen nearly fell straight onto his ass as he jumped backward into a wall. "Oh grow up Scott, no wonder Allison left you." the woman said with a disgruntled groan before jetting back to the Argent domicile.

Scott immediately scrambled inside the loft and slammed the door behind him trying to hide from his ex-girlfriend's mother's ghost. "God damnit she was scary enough when she was alive…I'm really hoping she doesn't decide to make me here target." Scott groaned as the werewolves in the building heard his heartbeat going at near dangerous levels, but it was calming down steadily. "Anyone want to tell me why I just saw my ex-girlfriend's mother's ghost?" he asked looking over to them as he fought to get his heart rate back down.

"She came over to say hello and catch up on how everyone was doing." Stiles said sarcastically. "She wanted to know what they hell was going on around here Scott and as far as I can figure Isaac must have dropped a few hints as to who might know what was going on." Stiles said as he moved over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Now calm down before I have Al here knock you over the head."

Scott merely shook his head and let out a short chuckle before taking a few deep calming breaths. "Sorry, just figured since she tried to kill me once she might try again." Scott replied as his heart rate finally began to balance out. "Sorry for not calling ahead, I just figured when I finished work I'd head over…Stiles said it might be a good idea to learn a few things from you Al." Scott said looking at the older Alpha.

"He did, did he? What is it that you would wish to learn?" Álmos asked as he slowly moved over toward the younger Alpha.

"Do I really need to say it out loud?" Scott inquired, eyes squinting slightly up toward the other Alpha's, when Al simply kept looking Scott sighed. "I want to know how to be a better Alpha, I want to know how to keep my cool, I want to know how to keep the stress and all the negative crap from getting to me." the young werewolf said before looking up. "I don't want to lose my pack." he added firmly his red eyes locking to Álmos'.

The older werewolf smirked as he tilted his head a little. "Yet you decide to ask an Alpha who lost his pack?" Álmos inquired his eyes still nice and ruby.

"I know, but you haven't let it turn you into a monster, you haven't given up…you act as though none of it happened." Scott said looking up steadily, though his tone was softer.

Al closed his eyes before opening them again, the red gone and slowly shifting through a series of numerous combinations and sets of colors. "I am left with the memories that it did indeed happen. The faces of those I've lost, and those who I have killed." Al said softly. "However I am blessed with the wisdom to recognize it is the past; the past though influential cannot control you, not unless you let it. That is what you must learn my friend, to let go of the past and not let your past grasp and dominate your life." Álmos replied wearily before he suddenly became very unsteady on his feet. Stiles and Derek were right there catching the other werewolf before he ended up hitting the floor.

"Al? Al!? Oh my god is he okay!?" Scott shouted as he stumbled over and landed in front of him, Cora had practically jumped over the railing of the staircase as she immediately moved over, sniffing the air for anything foreign, any sort of chemical in the air. Nothing, nothing was out of place from what she could tell. Al was still breathing steadily, his pulse was even it was almost as though he'd fallen into a deep sleep.

"He must have passed out, the last week has been hell for him, I doubt he's managed to get much of anything in the way of sleep." Derek said as he and Stiles slowly helped the older Alpha up and carried him over to his bed. "He's been exhausting himself trying to protect everyone in the area from getting possessed it seems."

"I blame those Hale genes of his." Stiles said as he pulled a blanket up over the werewolf's form. "All of that trying to do things on their own and such, must be a Hale thing." Stiles added teasingly nudging his boyfriend in the ribs; Derek simply shook his head in a fashion that was growing to be a reflex whenever the younger man made a comment that struck him like that, a jab at his stubbornness. Scott just looked on, half expecting Derek to smack Stiles upside the head for saying something against his family, but no such action was taken. He ended up chalking it up to the fact that they were deliriously in love, much like he had been with Allison, not that he was anymore, but there were lingering traces of what had been.

"Don't you even start talking about our family like that our family Stiles." Cora said as she stared the young druid-in-training. Stiles simply turned with his tongue stuck out at the only female in the building. "Okay that's it, Derek I'm going to use your mate for fight practice if he keeps this up." she groaned in exasperation.

"No." Derek said getting up from where they'd laid Álmos down. "If I can't beat on Scott, you can't beat on Stiles." Derek said crossing his arms, his tone level. Cora just huffed in frustration and stormed back off to her room, slamming the door behind her. Stiles smiled and pulled himself close to his mate and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks for coming to my defense babe." Stiles said brightly before looking up to see Derek looking at him with a raised brow. "What? What did I do?"

"Don't get on her nerves, I may be her big brother, but I can't Alpha her into submission and eventually she will maul you." Derek said as he worked his arms around Stiles finally turning to face the visibly confused Scott. "What is it? You look like someone just tried to explain your Chem homework to you."

"Why aren't you allowed to beat on me?" Scott asked as a smirk began to build on his face.

"Because Cora said that if I kept treating you like a jerk that she won't try going out with you." Derek replied with a sigh. "Though I can assure you the same goes for me as goes for her, if you push me too far she will let me knock some sense into you." Derek added as he leveled his eyes on Scott before picking Stiles up into his arms. "You can stay down here in the lounge area tonight, help Stiles' dad get settled in on the couch when he shows up." Derek added before moving over to the staircase.

"Wait a moment, why is Stiles' dad coming?" Scott asked as he followed Derek over to the stairs. "What about my parents?" Scott asked as he began to show concern for what may happen should he leave them undefended.

"You parents will be fine, you mom knows about Peter so she has the house kept safe against werewolves, and Stiles' dad said he'd fill yours in on him as well to make sure he doesn't manage to pull a fast one." Derek said easing the Alpha's concerns. "Besides, I'm fairly certain that if Peter came anywhere near your home your mother would rip him apart with her bare hands." Derek said keeping in mind just how terrifying Scott's mother could be when she needed to be, Scott laughed at that.

"Are you saying you're afraid of my mother?" Scott asked cocking a brow at the former Alpha.

"Yes, yes I am, I heard about what she did to the twins, your mother can be pretty damn terrifying at times." Derek replied Stiles nodding in agreement.

"Yeah dude, I mean there's a reason why I'm terrified to lie to her, she'd know." Stiles added, still held securely in his mate's arms. "Just, please help dad get comfortable here when he gets here okay?" Stiles asked looking over to Scott. His friend nodded his head before gathering a couple bean bags together to make a nest, getting comfy there. "Thank you man, sleep well okay?" Stiles asked softly before Derek pressed a kiss to his forehead and carried them up the stairs.

"Sleep well you two." Scott said in return and Derek turned with a small smile and nodded his head returning the sentiments before vanishing from view.

John had headed directly for the McCall residence, arriving along with Howard in the driveway before seeing Melissa sitting on the porch, baseball bat in hand, a dark look on her face. The two men looked at one another, John accusingly and Howard looking like he was about to get back in his car and leave in fear of being hit by that bat. Her look softened a little bit before she got up, leaving the bat on the porch and sighing.

"I got a call from the kids' new English teacher, she said that Peter was sniffing around, I was waiting to make sure you two got home safely." Melissa said with a tired look on her face as she brushed a hand over it. "Stiles gave me a bag from Scott's boss full of mountain ash to surround the house with, so he won't be giving us any trouble." Melissa added before turning around to head to the house. "John, you're welcome to stay here if you like, but I'm going to guess you will be going to check on wherever Stiles is." the nurse added turning to face him as she got to the door.

"I've made plans to go to the loft where Derek, Cora and his cousin are staying. Thanks though, you two try to stay safe, things are getting nasty around here." John said with a sigh of his own as Howard got inside Melissa nodding before following suit and locking the door behind her.

The drive to the loft was uneventful, a chill wind cutting in as the last rays of sunlight faded out of the sky, clouds swirling in and obscuring the now waxing crescent. As John stepped out he had one of those discomforting feelings like he was being watched, so he made certain to have his firearm ready. As he continued moving forward he caught a ghost of a scent on the breeze, a soft perfume, a familiar one, as he turned John saw a soft light flitting around the area. It almost seemed to beckon to him, but at the same time felt like it was telling him to move along, a mix of feelings really. As it faded away he snapped back into focus and made his way into the loft, going up the stairs into the main room, seeing Scott snoring away in a nest of bean bag chairs and a pillow and blanket laid out on the couch. He assumed that would be his spot for the evening and made his way over, lying down and covering himself with the warm fleece blanket and slowly slipping off to sleep himself.

As John and everyone else slowly drifted into deep slumbers that same light that had drawn John's attention before hovered about the loft, posted like a sentinel to keep it safe from any shadowy things that sought to linger. Eventually it went into the loft and settled beside Stiles and Derek, growing slightly before taking on a more human form, and hand reaching over to rest on Stiles' cheek.

"You stay strong for me my baby boy." the image said with a smile as warm as the touch to the young man's cheek before fading away again.

Stiles snapped awake at the touch to his cheek and the smell of perfume, but mostly from what it was he could have sworn he'd just heard. Almost immediately he began to feel tears streaming from his cheeks as he looked around the room looking for what he'd expected to see. His sudden movement however and the smell of the salt on his cheeks alerted Derek and the werewolf perked up and immediately swung an arm around to hold onto his mate. He saw the pain on Stiles' face, and could feel the ache in his chest. He knew that ache well and as the realization set in he wrapped his arms around Stiles even more tightly, pulling him tight to his chest as Stiles began to steadily sob into his chest.

"Shhhh, it's okay babe, I'm here." Derek said as one hand moved soothingly up and down his back. "It's okay, I know." he added as he slowly lifted his other hand to wipe over his lover's cheeks, wiping away the tears. "I only wish this was a kind of pain I could just take away." Derek added, his own sadness seeping into his voice. He hated seeing Stiles upset like this, hated it because he knew how much it hurt to miss someone who you'd lost so unfairly. He hated feeling powerless to do anything about it either other than to stay there and hold Stiles and assure him that he would be okay.

Eventually Stiles calmed down, his own arms clinging to Derek, his face buried in his chest which was now wet with his tears. "I heard her Derek, I could smell her. It was like she was right here sitting next to me…I could feel her Derek." Stiles said his voice still a little choked up. Derek himself had noticed what seemed like a soft floral scent but had figured it was from one of Al's teas or some spray his sister was trying, but this was from something different, he hadn't heard anything though. He wasn't about to deny the possibility that what Stiles had felt was real, the possibility was there, but that didn't make his job any easier.

"I don't know what to say babe…maybe she's looking out for you, trying to keep you safe." Derek said as he stroked his lover's back. "You have your guardian angel." he added leaning in and kissing him softly. "At least you can still feel her there." Derek said softly, reminding his mate that he still had that much going for him.

Stiles looked up, eyes still wet before he rubbed them dry before looking back firmly into Derek's own. Now he felt like the jerk, his mother had just visited him to some capacity, Derek's couldn't for all Stiles knew. He simply held Derek back their arms now woven around one another.

"I'm sorry for waking you up babe. Let's get back to sleep." Stiles said as he leaned up and kissed Derek on the lips before moving back to where they were spooned against one another, slowly fading back into a deep slumber.


	21. Werewolf Home Security

**Once again I apologize to my readers, life has been kinda crazy lately so my chapters will be a bit slower coming out. Please forgive me.**

Álmos woke up early in the morning to the subtle scent of rose petals and apple blossoms passing over him. He slowly raised himself into a slouched seated position, resting his head of the headboard as he opened his eyes slightly to peer into the still dimly lit area, seeing the luminescent form of a woman walking by. He smiled and let out a sigh of relief as he watched the figure drift over to sit in a chair, waving her hand through the air to disperse a lingering plume of smoke from his incense.

"You know if my son has to stay here as often as he is we're going to have to do something about this, maybe switch you over to essential oils, it's like a hookah house in here." Claudia said as she looked over to the still mostly reclined form of Álmos.

"My apologies Mrs. Stilinski, I wasn't planning on this being as regular an event as it has been." the werewolf replied quietly from where he was seated. "I will admit it is hard keeping those two apart anyway, and it would likely be easier on your dear husband's nerves for them to be affectionate here than there."

Claudia's specter chuckled at that. "Yes, you have a point there, but it would be best for him to adjust to this reality sooner rather than later. Easing him into things has never quite worked out that well; why else do you think Stiles kept the truth about Scott and the others from him from so long? Subtlety wouldn't have worked, nor would he have believed the truth without one of you outing yourselves to him." she added as her ghostly hands went to rest on her lap. "Were you able to rest well?" she asked as her eyes rested gently on the Alpha werewolf.

Álmos nodded with matching gentleness, a restful smile on his face as his eyes drifted closed for a moment before reopening, his eyes a matching shade of steely blue the same color they had been at his birth. "Like a rock." the twenty-something year old mentioned. "And before you ask me how well a rock sleeps, let me remind you I'm alive because a tree gave its last breath to me." the gypsy wolf added with a smirk, earning another soft chuckle from the woman.

"Oh you are a delight, more so than your cousin upstairs, I understand his issues, but does he always have to be such a sourwolf?" Claudia asked as she got up and waved a hand in the direction of the windows, the dust that had collected falling loose and drifting down.

"You sound like him, now I know where it is he gets his particular brand of humor." Al replied with a fond smile, Claudia smiling in turn and bowing her head gracefully.

"Among other things, you didn't think he came by his talents out of simple necessity did you?" Claudia asked as Álmos' brow rose. "His druid abilities, he's hardly the first in the family to express that specific set of skills, and I doubt he'll be the last." Claudia added with a sweet smile.

"His aura is difficult to read honestly, as though there is a veil. I know that such abilities are seldom self-attained, but I wouldn't have put it passed him. But I trust there is more to him than simply being a druid; I've never met one yet that is so resilient, or instinctive. Never met one who works like he does, as though it's second nature to him, he's barely started learning and already he shows so much progress." Al said as he finally got up and greeted the morning, realizing he was still fully dressed from the night before.

"He was always a fast learner, his focus may be split, but his retention is remarkable. As for this being second nature to him, you have no idea how accurate that is. You should, by now, realize his nature is to keep things in balance, keep things connected and united. He's a natural center point, an axis, focus, and anchor. He can see things for what they are, he can see under the surface to a degree and it is definitely something to be admired. However this second nature, this fearless, in your face, confident authority figure…that would be his druidic side seeking to manifest itself more." Claudia trailed on as the sounds of birdsong began to creep into the loft.

"An authoritative druid…I know what that means." Álmos said as he turned from the window and looked to her. "Should he be told? Or do you want him to be shocked when he finds out?" Álmos inquired.

Claudia shrugged as she made her way away from Al's makeshift bedroom. "I'll let nature run its course. Let him find out as he will find out." the luminous entity said before slowly fading away leaving Álmos alone in the soft haze of the early morning.

Álmos took the opportunity to begin working on setting up breakfast for everyone, setting plates for six people at the table. It was pancakes this time, sausage and yogurt with poached eggs with fresh orange juice to drink. Antler, statue, flower in their respective places, John's badge in another and a small moon pattern coaster under the juice on another. The smell of his cooking had alerted the rest of the building and slowly everyone made their way over, Scott and John thanking Al for the food, thankful for not having to either skip or go all the way back home. While everyone sat down Álmos looked over to Stiles' place and eyed the carved antler and smirked.

"So, when do you think your first transformation will be?" Álmos asked rather bluntly getting a choked wheeze from the teenager.

"My what?" he asked as he let his utensils fall to his plate. "Dude I didn't even know that was a thing." Stiles said as he near choked on his pancakes.

"Well you are being trained to be a High Priest; I just thought it would make sense enough for you to realize that you should probably get yourself ready for something along those lines." Al said with a shrug before moving his way to eat his own meal leaving Stiles sitting their jaw dropped. Derek looked over to his mate with an entirely different expression, one of shock, in fact one that hinted at fear, that slightest flicker being more than enough for the werewolves in the room to pick up on.

"What's wrong Derek?" Scott asked as he continued eating his breakfast. "You look like Stiles being whatever it is Al said is bad."

Derek shook his head. "It's… it's not bad, it's just that…a High Priest…they're pretty important when it comes to the druid community. They're basically the best of the best, and extremely powerful." Derek responded as he looked down at his plate.

"So…what's the big deal with that?" Scott asked as he pushed his empty plate to the side before looking between the werewolf and his mate.

"It means a lot of things will want to either kill him, or take him away." Derek said softly, and now the nature of his fears was revealed.

Stiles looked up at that point and stared directly into his mate's eyes, looking deep into them as though seeking some sort of comfort from them. He got some, but it was tainted by worry. He then reached out and took Derek's hand in his and squeezed it gently. "We'll be fine." Stiles said confidently, certitude to his voice that resonated around them, putting an end to any concerns. The tone washed into Derek's ears and his eyes closed as it seeped into him and put him at ease. "So, if I am a High Priest, then when is it that I'll have my first transformation? Or is this one of those, it will happen when it happens deals?" Stiles asked looking over to Álmos who still had a slight smirk on his face.

"I would ask Deaton, he would be the one who'd know best, I know of only one other but until you come into your calling you won't be able to contact that person in particular." Álmos replied bowing his head a little.

"Lemme take a wild guess, my mom?" Stiles asked getting a choked reaction from his father as the Romani nodded his head.

"Wait, what is this about my wife being able to tell him about this?" John asked as he tried his best not to choke on his coffee. "What does Claudia have to do with any of this?" John added looking at Álmos, daggers shooting from his eyes as his expression grew grim.

"Please Sheriff relax, your wife was an Emissary, most likely to one of the other packs that had passed through the area, she was likely dismissed in some fashion, or her pack dissolved leaving her to carry on with her life. She has been here though; her spirit is keeping vigil over you and your son, keeping you safe." Álmos replied. "And she is a powerful spirit, I can only imagine how much of a presence she had while alive." the older Alpha said with a soft smile. John simply looked at him with a mix of anger, sorrow and disbelief. What right did this guy have to even bring up his wife? Talk about her like he knew her? Then he remembered that Stiles had come to that conclusion and he turned to his son.

"Is she actually here? Is she invisible or something? I don't know whether the whole ghost thing means we can see her or not." John asked as he looked to his son.

"I don't know, I know I thought I felt her upstairs looking over me and Derek, I could smell her perfume." Stiles said as he looked down at the table. "I think what Al said is true though, I think she is keeping us safe, or at least trying to." he added as he fought back some growing tears with a brave little smile. John could see the tears brimming in his son's eyes and was about to get up before he saw Derek pulling Stiles over to him and holding him close. He looked over to the young man holding his son appreciatively and Derek just nodded, there were few dry eyes at that moment, even Cora's were misty, but hers were tinged with something akin to jealousy, and in fact that seemed to be the exact case.

"Great, so we have guardian angles floating around and protecting everyone, good for you." Cora said slamming her utensils down and storming back to her room and slamming the door behind her. Stiles looked up toward the room and looked like he was feeling even worse now than he already did. Derek simply ran his hand through Stiles' hair and tried his best to assuage his feelings of guilt.

"It's okay Stiles, it's okay, she didn't mean it like that, she just…she just misses mom." Derek said, choking a little bit on the last word as he held Stiles close. At this point John did get up, as did Scott, John moving over and pulling his son and his son's boyfriend into his arms and offering what comfort he could. Scott lingered downstairs for a bit taking in the sight before him before moving his way upstairs to check on Cora.

As he got near the door he could already here the muffled sound of sobs coming out of the slightly ajar door. He knocked first getting a somewhat pathetic growl in response, but Cora could tell who it was and she didn't fight him making his way inside. She also didn't pull away when he moved to sit down beside her on her bed.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." Scott said as he reached over tentatively and moved Cora's hair out from the side of her face. She didn't flinch away; she just let things unfold as they would. The red streaks from tears ran down her face as she slowly moved up and leaned into Scott, her head pressing against his chest.

"I'm sorry." she whispered out tiredly as she felt Scott slowly wrap his arms around her. "I didn't mean to snap like that." she added as she began tearing up again.

"Hey, it's okay, I get it, I know you didn't mean to, everything will be okay." Scott said as he just rested a hand on Cora's back, the other gently beginning to run through her hair. He kept holding her like this, his hand gently rubbing her back as well until he could feel her relaxing. "Okay, now come on, I know you didn't finish your breakfast and Al's cooking isn't something to go wasted, come on." Scott said as he gently took Cora's hand in his own, a small smile creeping onto his lips as he stood up and helped Cora back onto her feet.

"You realize you totally just cheated right?" Cora said as she pouted a little as she got to her feet.

"How did I cheat? I didn't order you to calm down or anything did I?" Scott asked in genuine concern, he was new to being an Alpha he wasn't sure if he'd subconsciously done something to compel her.

Cora just chuckled and shook her head. "No, you just knew exactly what to say and reminded me that I was ignoring awesome food." Cora replied with a smile of her own as she felt the warm touch of Scott's hand holding hers. It was definitely something new, something welcome, and something she could get used to. It also didn't hurt that it would drive her brother insane for a while, and she had some built up sibling torment to unleash.

"So basically I cheated by being awesome and by guilt tripping you?" Scott asked as he walked them to her door.

"Yes, now shut up before I smack you." Cora said giving the Alpha fair warning with a slight flash of amber in her eyes. Scott smiled further before opening the door and making his way downstairs to rejoin the people at the table. It seemed that Al had broken out some of his mead again because there were empty glasses and everyone seemed to be in fairly better spirits than when he'd left. Derek looked up seeing their hands linked and though he inwardly flinched he didn't show it, he did show a measure of thanks though to Scott though who simply nodded his head in return.

"Well kiddo I need to go back to the house and get changed, think we'll be in the clear for now?" John asked as he walked over and hugged his son gently.

"Not sure…Al, any chance you could…" Stiles began asking before Álmos raised his hand to stop him.

"I will gladly escort your father, from now on though we'll set it up so you two don't have to neglect your home, I would like it Scott if you could discuss things with the twins to see if they'd be willing to set up a detail for Stiles and his father, if only to make sure their house is secure." the gypsy wolf requested looking over to Scott who was now feeding Cora in a rather surprising display of affection, one that was making Derek want to get up and smack the Alpha upside the head.

Scott looked over though, the idea was far from unusual, and it wouldn't hurt to keep a watch out for Peter, his family would be fine, his mother knew who the bastard was and she knew her way around quite a few things that could render a werewolf useless. As for his father, well he was a big boy and he was sure that with recent developments that his mother was more a threat to him than Peter would be. "That actually wouldn't be a bad idea, I'll mention it to them at school today; make sure that they check the place out before anyone heads back."

"Kiváló. Now, you two finish your breakfasts, then we can see to getting you off to school, Stiles, Scott, feel free to borrow some clothes from my dresser." Al said as he got up and walked over to John. "Now, I believe we have a house to go disinfect of any possible family members of mine." Al added before turning around and making his way with John to his cruiser leaving the three werewolves and the human to get ready for their days.

Stiles and Scott both grabbed some pretty basic clothes and Stiles just took to draping his hoodie over it to maintain his usual layered appearance. Scott just found a nice t-shirt and some spare jeans and met up with Stiles at his jeep after leaving Cora with one last hug and a chaste little peck to her cheek which caused them to both flush a bit at the boldness of it. All it made Derek do was want to smack Scott even more, though this time maybe his ass, with a steel-toed boot…with spikes. Sensing her brother's ire Cora turned and stared him down eventually earning a tired sigh as Derek moved over to Stiles and wrapped his arms around him.

"Okay then, you know what to do if things start going weird at school right?" he asked as he leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss.

"Start shining the sourwolf symbol?" Stiles said teasingly as he kissed Derek back. "Seriously though I know babe, I'll contact you and let you know what's going on." the druid-in-training said softly. Well, High Priest in training. That thought was going to take some getting used to, could a druid train a High Priest while not being one? He'd have to ask Deaton later, today was supposed to be a study day anyway so he was ready for it.

Derek smiled warmly giving Stiles one last gentle squeeze before letting go. "Okay, you guys head off, Cora and I are going to go get more food for the loft; we don't want Al going broke trying to feed everyone." Derek added as he moved back toward the loft. "Please, just be careful." Derek added more to Stiles than to Scott. Stiles simply smiled and nodded his head and Scott nodded in turn before they got out and headed off to school. Derek simply watched with that familiar concerned feeling dredging up in his gut, the fear that while his eyes were directed elsewhere his mate would be in danger. He was broken out of it though by the timely interruption of his sister.

"So we're going to do _more_ sibling bonding? I think I'd almost wish I'd gone with John and Al to check out Stiles' place." she said with a groan. "And last I looked both his pantry and fridge were full, so who are you trying to fool? What are you up to Derek?" she asked staring her brother down, his body language was speaking volumes, this wasn't going to be just a pleasant day out doing menial chores.

"I'm not planning anything, so chill." Derek said as he turned and headed back to the loft. "But we are going to be heading out; I have to go shopping for a few things." Derek added before getting back inside. He went over and pulled out a fresh outfit, moving over to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day and leaving Cora waiting for her turn. He stretched out some in the shower as the water ran over him and groaned at the discomforting pops in his back and shoulders; he'd have to remind Stiles of the offer he made the morning after he'd shown up. He really, really needed a massage, and he was just hoping Stiles' hands could do the trick.

Cora had heard what Derek had said, and she had also realized it was a total lie; one Derek really hadn't tried to hide. He wasn't lying about the shopping, but he lying about not having something in the works. She decided to probe her way around in his room, being the typical nosy sister and rifling through his belongings. It was there that she came across a small little box inside his jacket, dark blue velvet and as thought touching it burned her she dropped it and scampered back.

"Oh my fucking god he can't be serious." Cora said sucking in a breath as she slowly backed up only to back up into the solid frame of muscles that was her brother. She immediately jumped and spun before backing away again.

Derek saw the box on the floor, saw the look on his sister's face, and had heard what it was she had just said, and to say his face didn't look furious…was actually a somewhat fair statement. He actually looked like he was about to laugh his ass off at the way his sister looked like she expected him to kill her. He walked over and picked the box up, pulling off the pieces of dust that had tainted the soft velvet surface before putting it back in his jacket pocket. "So I need to find a good lock to put on my door it seems." Derek said as he slipped on the leather jacket and walked back out the door. "Then again for all I know you'd just rip the doorknob off or something." he added before working his way down the stairs, leaving his sister standing there in two different states of shock, first at having been caught, second at having been let off with little more than a backhanded comment that he wanted his privacy respected.

Eventually Cora snapped out of her trance and made her way sheepishly downstairs and into the bathroom with her own change of clothes, making sure to not make eye contact with her brother. She didn't want to see the triumphant gleam in them, knowing that without so much as threatening her he'd humbled her pretty easily. She didn't have quite the same issues in the shower, not having nearly the level of hellish tension in her own body as she let the water pour over her. She was still however recovering from nearly having died, still having that slight tremble when she overextended, getting a bit lightheaded. She ended up coming out a good hour and a half later with her hair still wrapped in her towel and looking a bit more relaxed than she had prior, and no longer as dour as she'd gone in.

"Alright, so where the hell are we going?" she asked as she vigorously dried off her hair before taking the brush she'd brought out with her and dragging it through.

"Well first I want to go get some new clothes, which means yes, you can get some too, but I swear to god if you don't find at least three outfits in half an hour I will never buy you anything, ever. You can get a job and then go shopping on your own, or bring Lydia, she'd probably love to have someone to go shopping with, might give Aiden a break too." Derek replied as he got up from where he'd been sitting, reading, and headed for the door. "After that I want to scope out a few places, I can bet you know for what purpose." Derek added tapping his jacket pocket.

"Gods do not remind me, please." Cora said with a groan. "I would have figured you'd just drag him to the middle of the woods or something, not take him out to a fancy restaurant." Cora said as she tilted her head a little. Derek then looked at the ground as though thinking the idea over. "Oh my god stop, I was joking, you're not dragging him into the woods to propose to him or whatever it is you're doing. Be normal for once damnit." Cora said causing Derek to smirk and chuckle a little.

"Okay, okay, I'll be normal and take him to a restaurant, but nothing too fancy, I'd never be able to figure out how all the spoons and forks go." Derek said as he headed down to the Camaro.

"Sounds like a smart move bro." Cora said as she closed the door behind them feeling a slight jolt as the latch connected. "Gah! The hell was that!?" she asked pulling her hand away and shaking it.

"Must be some sort of defense thing that Al has set up, makes sure nothing tries to sneak in while everyone is away, can't blame him, we've had plenty of uninvited guests, it's only natural he decided to put that up." Derek said as they climbed into the Camaro and took off for a day that Derek was sure he'd regret later that day.


	22. Payment for Your Sins

"Well so far so good." John said as they pulled up to his house, looking over the exterior and not seeing much if anything that would be of much issue. Until he saw one of the window screens shredded. "God damnit." he groaned as he got out of the cruiser and went over to investigate. "Oh…oh god what the hell is that smell?" he added as he immediately turned around and retched before practically stumbling away from the spot.

"It would seem something tried to break in, tried to break in and failed miserably, but tried to break in nonetheless." Álmos replied as he plugged his nose with some fabric he'd brought with him, fabric soaked in what had been a mix of lavender, vanilla and cinnamon, as well as a hefty amount of mint. "By the feel of it…tell me Sheriff have you ever had to kill anyone in the line of duty?" Álmos inquired as he scanned the area.

"I…um, yes, I have, why?" John asked a response once he had finally regained some of his composure, still looking a bit queasy.

"Well next time you may want to ensure that the body receives proper burial rites and not the simple ones the state give to criminals. This one seemed particularly interested in you demise." Al added as he turned around, his eyes a shade that struck a chord with John that made his stomach knot up. It had been one of the first cases he'd been sent to deal with, hostage situation, the holder had come out with a gun held to a little girls head, he hadn't seen him and so he went with his gut and ended up getting a through and through. In one temple out the other, dropped him like a lead balloon. But those eyes had been burned into his memory and he visibly retreated from Al on wobbling legs before the gypsy wolf's eyes faded back to his regular heterochromatic. "I am sorry John; I did not mean to put you at any unease, my apologies." he said bowing his head. "Good news is that it seems your son is definitely improving on his abilities, in fact…" Al said as he began to escort John around the house, gently shifting fallen leaves and blades of grass out of the way to reveal small piles of sage, mountain ash, even a handful of crystals, "It would seem that your son has had things set up for some time now for multiple situations. The crystals themselves would keep out your typical unhappy spirit, the sage would keep out the somewhat nastier ones, and the mountain ash the obvious." Álmos said with a smirk. "I should give him some dragon's blood sometime."

"Dragon's blood?" John inquired with a quirked brow, he wasn't sure if Al was talking about actual dragons or some other thing, he couldn't really rule out the thought of a dragon somehow popping in out of nowhere.

"_Dracaena draco_, it's a type of plant that produces a red hued resin called 'dragon's blood' Very potent material used to repel evil spirits and demons." Álmos replied pulling a small bottle out of his shirt. "Can't tell you how often this stuff comes in handy."

"So not actual blood from a dragon?" John asked as he looked at the small granules in the bottle, the light red color looking almost like chalk to him.

"No, not from a real dragon, can't say I've met one who would be willing to part with it, let alone met one at all. However I would not be shocked in the least to see one eventually, can never rule anything out unfortunately." the gypsy wolf added with a sigh as he went back to the shredded window screen and moved his hand over the ground, the sulfurous remains of the spirit rising and slowly being immolated. "Bad to keep this stuff around, only good this is for is for launching curses at people, and though those can be highly enjoyable, I prefer going the trickster route than the demonic." Álmos added as the last of it vanished.

"So, can we go inside now?" John asked once he watched the remains blink out of existence. "Or do you think some of these things may have gotten through?" John inquired.

"Oh the interior is fine, no heartbeats, and no foreign energy except for the lingering traces of Peter being here. You should be fine." Álmos replied as he moved toward the front door. "Ah…there is this however." the gypsy wolf said as he looked at the mostly disemboweled remains of a rabbit sitting on the front porch in front of the door. "Well this is highly unpleasant." Al added with a heavy sigh before pulling a bag out of his satchel and putting the rabbit's remains into it before going to the edge of the woods and depositing there. "Sorry about that, do you have problems with wild animals around here?" Al asked as he rejoined the sheriff on the porch, when he got a firm shake of the sheriff's head he sighed again. "Well at least it isn't a horse head in your bed." Al responded as she shrugged. John just looked at him with a somewhat shocked expression on his face, as though he hadn't expected that reference to come from the werewolf. "What, I have been in the United States the vast majority of my life, did you think I've neglected the cinematography of the place?"

John simply shook his head and then looked back at the still bloodstained boards of the porch and groaned. "I didn't expect something like that from a werewolf, my movie obsessed son, yes, you, not so much." John said as he stepped over the blood and into his home. "Remind me to clean that later." he added to Álmos as he followed him into his home.

"Oh believe me I will, animal blood is not something one should decorate their house with." Álmos replied before working his way around the home rejoining John back in the kitchen once he'd done a thorough once over. "Seems clear to me, nothing has been in that didn't belong since Peter earlier this week, you should be clear." Álmos said with a smile, grabbing the cup of coffee John offered him graciously. "If that's all you need I will be making my way back home and leave you to get ready for work."

"Actually, if you have a moment I'd like to ask you a few things concerning what it means for my son to be a High Priest. I actually have the day off; I just didn't want Stiles knowing that way I can sneak around behind his back for a change." John said the admittance leaving that loving hanging feeling of guilt in his stomach. "But it will give me time to figure out what it is I'm going to need to know about my son." John added looking over to the Romani gentleman.

Álmos smirked and looked over at John as his eyes shifted to Stiles' warm saccharine brown making John's stomach sink just that little bit more. "Good, now that you know you won't get away with anything while your son is away, let's talk." Álmos said sitting down at the table and gesturing for John to join him; once the other man was seated he spoke up once more. "Now your son as a High Priest will be a natural channel for some serious power, think of him like an Alpha druid, other druids will go to him for help, or will ask for his advice, not any time soon mind you." Al said noting Johns growing look of concern over the idea that random druids might try to seek him out. "The more immediate things you will notice is that he'll attract animals, plants will flourish around him, he might actually calm down a bit more." Al added which began to relax John a bit.

"Why would he start to calm down?" John asked, wondering what would cause his normally hyperactive, teenage son to mellow out.

"His energy will naturally attune to that of the region around him, and I said 'might' for a reason, the natural energy of this area is hardly what I would consider balanced out. In a more relaxed area he will be calm, if he ends up getting involved in a conflict his energy levels will go crazy, and so will the environment around him. He'll basically become intrinsically bound to the way things work around here, tied into the natural cycle of things, I'd actually wager he'll be telling you the weather before it happens." Álmos said with a laugh which caused John to join in.

"Well that will keep me from having to watch the morning forecast." John said working on his coffee. "Now, what about him and Derek, how is this going to affect them?" John asked getting down to the main part of the discussion he needed to know about.

"Ahhh, now that's the question now isn't it, and I trust that this is more to do with the reaction you saw from Derek earlier, that fear that was in his face. Believe me, nothing bad will come of it, yes, Derek will be concerned even more for Stiles' safety, there are many things that target High Priests, darachs, other ambitious druids, demons, rogue fae, witches and the like, people most likely looking to grab at his power." Al said causing John's stomach to keep dropping with every example. "However considering he's being protected by a pack of werewolves and a family of hunters, two other druids and by the look of it a Summer Court noble I don't think we have much to worry ourselves with." Álmos added with a smirk knowing having just as long a list of things defending Stiles as seeking to end him would put John at ease. "In short his life is no more dangerous now than it ever has been. As for his relationship with Derek, I can only see it growing stronger. Tell me, what do you know about the god Cernunnos?" Al asked working on his own coffee.

Cora was sitting outside the dressing rooms just gawking at her brother who had just stepped out with a white, long-sleeved button-down dress shirt and a pair of black slacks, trying to see if he actually looked good in it and looking quite honestly very uncomfortable. He kept tugging on the sleeves and around the neck, trying as hard as he could to get it to mold better to his chiseled physique. The noticeable level of frustration though caused Cora to move over and grab her brother's wrist, painfully, causing the older werewolf to wince.

"Before you end up ripping the sleeves off why don't you just get one with short sleeves, or just go with a polo? Christ you don't need to make it so damn obvious." Cora said as he slowly let go, the slight bruise on his skin fading away steadily. "Pants look fine at least." She added, and it was true the pants looked great as they were, but the shirt just seemed to bunch and hang in the worst ways.

"Maybe I'd be better off going to a tailor or something." Derek said as he moved back into the changing room and getting the confining and offending garment off his torso. He snatched at the blue short sleeved button down Cora tossed over the door after him, it wasn't bad, and it matched the color of the ring box…maybe it would work, but as he pulled it on he could already feel how it was parachuting out in spots. "Get a polo." Derek groaned as he tossed both shirts back over, sitting down and staring at himself in the mirror. Why was it so damn difficult to find a good outfit? Then again why was he insisting on making it harder on himself and taking Stiles out on a romantic night together? He could have done something else, anything else, and his mind was swirling for idea when suddenly he was hit with brilliant idea. "Cora, forget about it, new idea." Derek said as he got out of all the collected clothes and put them back where they'd been. "I need to find some good jeans and a sweater. I'm taking him camping out on the preserve." Derek said as he looked for some nice basic clothes, at least this would prove far easier since jeans were jeans, all he needed were the right size for both.

"I thought we weren't dragging him out into the woods." Cora said critically her eyes boring into the back of her brother's head as he kept looking for something sturdy but comfortable.

"Yeah, well I decided otherwise, I wanted to bring him to stay where we met for the first time, or, well, technically first time." Derek said trying to keep his heart from getting unsteady from the thoughts of when he'd first seen Stiles and Scott standing there in the woods looking for his inhaler, the day after Scott had been bitten by Peter.

"You really think that's a good idea? What if Peter attacks you or something?" Cora asked as she just stood there looking as her brother picked out a pair a nice study blue jeans and deep green sweater.

"If he does, I'll kill him, simple as that." Derek said as he turned to look at his sister. "If he's going to keep attacking his own family, he needs to be put down, and if he so much as tries to hurt Stiles I'm going to make sure there isn't a body left to resurrect." Derek said the cold blue leaking into his hazel eyes.

"Okay, okay, just, don't get fleas while you're out there." Cora said trying to get under her brother's skin a little, she succeeded, but only enough to get an eye roll from her brother. "I have my outfits picked out so can we _please_ get out of here?" she asked as she held up three separate outfits.

"Yes, we can get out of here; do you want to grab something to eat on the way back to the loft?" he asked as he paid for their purchases and got them bagged up.

"So long as it's not fast food I'm fine." Cora said bluntly, taking her clothing and making her way to the car out in the parking lot, and that's when they both smelled it, sulfur, and death. They whirled around to see the smiling figure of a pale man standing in the shade of one of the trees outside the shopping center, his mouth was moving, but his words were soft as they looked at him.

"You are both running low on time, you may have a faerie protecting you, and you may have some druid friends and a couple hunters, but you will all feel what it's like to see your worlds fall around you…and you will know what it is to lose control of your lives." the figure of István spoke to them, the grass withering around him and turning brown, the leaves on the trees nearest him curling and dropping dry and brittle to the ground. "You will learn what it is like to be nothing more than my little puppets, just like your dear, sweet uncle." István added before a beam of light managed to cut through the overcast sky and strike down near his feet causing his form to grow hazy. "Mark my words Hale Pack filth, you will die, just like the rest of your pathetic line." the spirit spat out before vanishing and fading back into the shade of the building. Derek and Cora were left standing there with a mix of dread and rage mingling together, two things they could not afford to feel right now as the scent of several other nasty entities began to move in.

"We need to get out of here, now." Derek said as he and Cora bolted for the car and rushed off back toward the loft, passing up food to try and get to some place that would be safer for them right now. As the Camaro swerved into parking lot in front the two leapt out to see Al standing there looking sternly in their direction, though not at them.

"You two, inside, now." the Romani said as he ushered them inside, the clouds above seemingly growing thicker as though a storm were coming.

"He threatened us, in broad daylight." Cora said shivering despite the warmth inside the building. "Al what the hell is going on?" she asked as she stared the Alpha down.

"He's realized that we've been planning a few steps ahead, and now that his plan to take us one by one is failing…he's going to prepare for outright war." Álmos said as he began his way around the loft, marking all the windows with a massive amalgamation of sigils, emblems, icons and the like as what seemed almost like a wave crashed against them, the hissing screams of strigoi ringing out around them. "This is just a warning of what he's planning to send…we're going to be in trouble if we can't figure something out."

"Is John okay? Is he going to be hit hard by this?" Derek asked as his concerns immediately went to his mate and his mate's father. "What about the kids at the school?" Derek added, panic setting in as his mind felt like it was going to be split apart.

Álmos took a deep breath before slapping Derek across the face. "Calm down, if you don't these wards keeping us safe are going to shatter along with your mind. Now think, do you think I would have left Stiles' home without first placing every defense I could there? Then ask yourself if Vivian would so much as let a strigoi within one hundred feet of that school. The answer to both is no, those places are just as secure as this one, and I'm sure by now so are Danny's, Ethan and Aiden's, Lydia's, Scott's, and Allison's, so please Derek, breathe, calm down or you're just going to feed the enemy exactly what it needs to defeat us." Álmos added before gently placing a hand on his cousin's shoulder.

Derek's cheek still stung from being smacked, his eyes still in a state of shock from the impact, but he'd listened and he'd begun to relax. He tried to calm down and feel out Stiles, to see if he could find anything that would suggest any threat to him. The werewolf was shocked when he felt nothing of the sort; in fact Stiles seemed to be fine, in a state of calm himself, which was weird. He chalked it up to being in Mrs. Lake's class and thus being under that lovely protective Summer Court bubble. He also knew that John would be okay, if Al had set up some defenses there it would take more than this to get to him. Derek was also relieved that his cousin felt everyone else would be well defended as well, taking solace in the thought that the entire pack would be safe. Confidence had been something he'd been lacking significantly lately, then again going through life losing his family, then his pack, then nearly losing his sister, it had set some serious issues whirling in his mind when facing seemingly insurmountable odds. He couldn't keep letting this happen though, couldn't keep letting the odds cause him to become this panicked little whelp that ran for cover with his tail tucked between his legs.

Al seemed to be taking stock of Derek's thoughts as he put an arm around his shoulder and walked them all over to the lounge area, the sounds of hissing becoming like the staccato of rain drop over the home. "There is only one drawback to all of this." Álmos said as he made his way to go get some of his mead for them all. "The stench outside is going to be dreadful afterward." the gypsy wolf said with a smile, getting small ones in turn from the other wolves.

"I could have gotten to them first you spectral son of a…" Peter began to say before feeling an icy grip around his heart which immediately caused him to drop to the ground, and curl up.

"Your incompetence gave them ample time to make preparations to ensure the safety of the individual members of their pack. As such the only course of action left to me is open war." István spat as he hovered over the hunched figure of the eldest remaining Hale. "You are weak, you are pathetic, and I grow weary of your ineptitude. However you may yet prove useful, so there's no point in killing you quite yet, not while that nephew of yours seems so keen on trying to find the good in people. This boy of his is certainly making him far too soft, a true wolf takes what they want and damns the consequences; Derek is naught but a puppy following after his master, obediently listening to everything he says." István added as he drifted off a bit. "I could just wait, and let them all kill themselves at this rate, they're all rather pathetic and weak, and it would save me some energy." the dark entity said puzzling over in a corner of the room.

"He may be soft, but he's not stupid, his instincts are strong, and though he get all puppy eyed over certain people you'd be surprised by just how easily he can see through others." Peter said still curled up on the floor while the seeming frostbite in his chest began mending. "If they've really been able to plan this quickly then there's something else helping them that we can't figure out. Something is filtering in information, or someone." Peter said as he began crawling back onto his feet.

"That's of no matter, I have more than enough souls that I can send hurtling into oblivion, and I gain more every day thanks to that idiot Vivian. She scattered my forces to areas that can't even begin to know what they're dealing with, and the misery in those towns, just as delectable. The death toll keeps rising, the souls become more numerous…and they thought that darach was a problem." István added with a laugh like grinding glass, or like a manifestation of the coldest winter's day. He then turned back to face Peter and made his way over. "She killed but twelve, if I must I will kill hundreds, condemn their souls to suffer forever or be shattered against whatever meager defense my grandson can conjure. Nothing will get in the way of what I deserve." he added a deathly gleam to his eyes, those cold, heartless eyes.

Peter visibly drew further away from the ghost, fear radiating off of him, finally beginning to realize just how huge a mistake he'd made. But his fear was feeding the spirit and István looked to be savoring ever delicious wave of it as he stepped closer. Peter tried to shut his emotions back inside hold them in, starve him, but then István pulled him forward by the neck and lifted him from the ground.

"Your fear makes me strong Peter, and it makes you weak, now, be a good little pup and hold still for me." the man said as he began staring deeper into Peter's eyes. Peter began screaming as he felt the ice cold form of István slowly beginning to pour into his veins, merging into his being. He'd truly screwed up this time, he'd dropped all his guards, he'd let his emotions, his ambition, his greed, all of it control him, and now here he was, losing control completely, as the master puppeteer seeped into his very being and took over. "Hmmm, such a spry fellow for someone of your age, hardly what I would consider top form, but maybe I can trade you out for that nephew of yours soon enough." István whispered quietly inside of Peter's mind. Peter tried to struggle, tried to desperately fight off the intrusion, but by now it was too late. "Uh-uh, can't have that Peter. Don't you see, now you have everything you wanted, power, and a way to kill those pathetic wastes you call family. The best thing is, now I get exactly what I wanted as well, just be sure to obey like a good little mutt." the strigoi hissed as he ushered Peter's body out of the apartment he'd been resting in.

"Please, don't do this István, I can still get to them without this, I'm begging you please!" Peter's own soul screamed in the now frozen core of his essence.

"No Peter, this is what you deserve, don't you understand? Your lust for power, your disregard for human and werewolf life combined, all your sins are now being paid for." István whispered sadistically. "Now you get to be a good little puppet and put on a good show for me and for your family, but do be convincing, or else you can forget about getting what it was you have long lusted for." Peter's spirit whimpered and shivered in the arctic depths of his being huddling away from the darkness that now enveloped him as he was marched out the door and to his car, making his way now to the loft. "You are right though, you can, and you will find a way to get to them without me having to waste any more of my forces." István added as he took total control for the drive there, not trusting Peter to not crash himself and kill himself in the process. Peter could then feel István delving into his mind, peeling through the memories, learning to be him, the con-artist, the monster, and deep down the remorse ridden, pathetic creature that hid beneath it all. "Hmmm, good, plenty of information I can use to unravel the creatures in that lovely hovel my grandson calls home." István added as the memories of what had happened with Paige, the fire, Kate, Jennifer, as all of it swirled back to the surface. "My, my Peter we have been a naughty little wolf haven't we?" he added as he played through all the darkest, most painful memories inside the core of the Hale's memory.

Peter's soul was fighting; it was struggling to keep from just crashing and giving in, the meager valiant spark keeping him from giving up completely a lone beacon against the darkness suffocating him. Silently to himself, and no doubt the last private thought he'd have he whispered to himself. '_Derek…I'm sorry._'


	23. You Certainly Can't Learn That At School

Classes were wrapping up as the school day and Scott and Stiles were getting ready to head to Deaton's again, Scott to work, Stiles to figure out what the hell he was going to do about this whole being a High Priest deal. It was the last class they had that day, Economics…with Coach Finstock, what a joy this class was going to be, and almost as though to forecast the situation dull gray clouds began to flow in and obscure the otherwise enjoyably blue sky.

"Is there any particular reason why he has to not only be our coach, our P.E. teacher, _and_ our economics teacher?" Stiles asked half dragging his way there.

"I'd say it's because of the fact that life hates you and wants to make you suffer," came Danny's voice from the other side of the hall as he joined them on the way to class, "but it could also be due to the fact that the school has had to cut the budget because the economy sucks." he added as he clapped a hand gently on his friend's shoulder. "He's not that bad is he?" he asked as he looked at Stiles' downtrodden expression.

"Maybe not to his star goalie or his team captain, but only up until recently I was his favorite scapegoat next to Greenberg…hey Greenberg." Stiles said as they passed by him, getting a goofy little grin and wave in return. "But yeah, I tend to be his favorite excuse for things sucking so badly around here." Stiles said groaning out as they got within hearing distance of what they were sure was going to be another Finstock rant over something. "Do we have to go in there?" he asked as he looked toward the light moving in through the doorway.

"Unless you want to fail your junior year, yes." Scott said as he pushed Stiles forward with Danny's help and they took their positions around the room. The class wasn't actually as bad as it could have been, but at some point during it Stiles had the mother of all cold chills that nearly had him jumping out of his seat. He immediately looked out the window and whether consciously or not looked directly in the direction of the loft.

"Coach, can I go use the restroom please?" Stiles said raising his hand to which some of the people in the room looked at him like he'd grown a third arm and Scott immediately looked to see what was wrong. Stiles spared Scott a short and grim expression which was all Scott needed to know to realize something bad was happening.

"Okay, sure, yeah, whatever Stilinski." Finstock said carrying on with their lesson as the lanky teen rushed out of the room and didn't stop until he was clear out of the building, backpack in tow full of books as he rushed headlong toward the loft, forgetting that driving might be faster, his brain couldn't even register it. Derek was in serious danger and he needed to get there ten minutes ago.

"God damnit feet move faster." Stiles cried out as he threw his backpack aside, and unbeknownst to him doing the same with his clothing as he broke the tree-line, and in no time foot prints gave way to hoof marks as he shifted for the first time, proud antlers jutting out from his brow as he steadily transformed into a rather sturdy looking stag, crashing through the trees with blinding speed, leaping over logs, branches, through thickets as he jetted off to his mate.

Danny had given Scott a concerned expression once Stiles had leapt up, noticing Scott's look of worry as well as soon as the final bell rang they were off as well, Scott immediately chasing after Stiles' scent, following it to the line of trees and the trail of clothing and his backpack. However instead of remaining calm he started panicking even more, as he rushed to the tree line he could hear the others in the pack rushing in behind him.

"What's wrong? Where's Stiles?" Aiden and Ethan both said as they made it over to them, recognizing the clothes and backpack, noticing the scent of the other teen and the scent of panic coming from the other Alpha. "Is he okay?" Ethan asked as he moved over to his own mate.

"I don't know, he just up and left during Economics, something's wrong." Scott said as rain began slowly falling down from the slowly darkening clouds. "We have to keep moving before the rain washes away the scent, come on!" he practically ordered as the lot of them shifted, with the exclusion of Danny and they bolted. Ethan stayed behind just long enough to convince Danny to go home before joining them.

The journey to the loft was a blur, full of thorns and falling rain as the stag reared up in front of the wide open door and began to clip its way up the steps and into the main room. Inside he could see Al and Cora lying unconscious on the floor, and then he saw it, the pale figure of Peter Hale stalking toward and already seriously injured Derek. A loud bleating, bugling sound issued from the stag before he charged, driving his pronged antlers into the figure's back before hoisting and throwing him back toward the door. His hooves clopped against the ground as the warm brown eyes locked onto foreign ones. They were not the cold blue of Peter Hale, but the deathly blue of István Ambrus Smucz, eyes that leveled on the stag with a maliciousness that had never before been directed at him.

"Szarvas mocsok!" István's voice tried to exclaim through Peter's vocal chords, the sound grating painfully in the air. The shifted form of Peter Hale slowly made to advance again only to be pinned to the wall at the shoulders by the proud rack of prongs.

"Get the hell out of this building now or I swear by whatever god or goddess that governs whatever level of hell you crawled out of I will send you right back to them." Stiles tried to say, his voice replaced by a cold glare, the flick of his ears and tail and the threatening clip of hoof as his antlers dug deeper into the werewolf's shoulders, causing him to howl in pain.

István's hold over Peter was weakening, he'd managed to use him well enough to smuggle him over the threshold of the dwelling, a vain attempt to seek consolation before he began to lash out with that freezing touch of his. But he couldn't allow himself to hold control for long or he'd end up being the one in pain instead of the poor mess that was Peter Hale. He reached up, grabbing onto the antler's before pulling them free, though expending far more effort than he should have had to for a simple deer. Then the scent hit him, it was the same one all over Derek, this was no simple deer.

"Fasz, főpap!" Peter's voice said using his possessor's words as he recoiled and fell back to the door. Peter gave one last look to the room before cursing and spinning to leave, only to be sandwiched between a pissed off stag and four very angry werewolves as Ethan, Aiden, Isaac and Scott loomed up behind him.

"Get out of here Peter. Now." Scott growled out, red eyes glaring deeply into deathly blue, claws extended and poised to rip apart whatever target presented itself first.

"Silence you piece of bitten filth! You have no right to speak to a wolf like me." István spat out through Peter's voice before turning back to the stag and glaring at it. "This isn't over főpap, on that you can be certain." he added before bursting passed the three Alphas and the lone Beta, knocking half of them backward as he barreled out of the building. This left four confused werewolves in the doorway; a very pissed off looking stag, two unconscious werewolves on the floor and one seriously injured one on the floor, and oh shit the injured one! The stag immediately made his way over, slowly shifting back into his human form.

"Derek, Derek please be okay." Stiles pleaded as he examined the deep gashes along his sides and arms. He'd been balled up as Peter had begun to assault him, he looked over to Cora and Al who were still out cold, what the hell had István done to them? He began to feel his chest tightening, his head was starting to spin and his vision was blurring. The fact that he was naked in front of his best friend and the rest of his Pack wasn't even registering as his fear that somehow he'd gotten here too late began to make him lose himself. As the last bits of anything even remotely close to being clear vision vanished he found his eyes closing and his head falling to lay on Derek's surprisingly bloodless torso, the last thing he saw being a bright light. '_Shit, I'm dying._' he thought as all conscious thought vanished.

It was a few hours later when Stiles began to open his eyes again, the floral aroma that he remembered as his mother's wafting over him and making him groan. "I wasn't ready to die yet." he whined as he gripped what felt like bed sheets beside him. But why was he holding bed sheets? Did people sleep in the afterlife? It wasn't until he felt someone reach over and pinch him that he realized he wasn't dead yet. "Ow! Hey don't do that, god!" he shouted as he became much more alert and looked over to see Scott sitting beside him, the twins behind him, Derek laying to his other, and his mother next to him, or well, ghosting next to him. "Mom?" he asked as he looked over to the spectral form of Claudia Stilinski.

"Yes sweetheart it's me, well, most of me, no body as you can see." Claudia replied as she gently moved her hand over the frost burnt claw marks marring Derek's arms. "That bastard is lucky I couldn't get here sooner, I was too busy chewing your father out for trying to sneak in some McDonalds, I swear that man will never learn." she added as the frost burn slowly faded and Derek's body began to mend. He was unconscious, as were Al and Cora, whatever it had been that István had done it had put them all down for the count.

"Mom, please tell me they're going to be okay." Stiles said, voice catching a little in his throat as he thought of Derek never coming back to him.

"He'll be fine, especially once you start cuddling with him like I know you want to." Claudia said watching the blush stretch over her son's face, one that only got larger as he realized he was naked under the sheets, which means he'd been naked in front of his best friends.

"Oh my god." he groaned out before proceeding to hide his face in a pillow. "Why, why does fate hate me?" he asked now shaking his head into the pillow.

"Hey, from what I saw you have nothing to be ashamed of." Ethan spoke up getting a glare from his brother and from Scott, Isaac smirking a bit and holding back some laughter. "What, he's been running around with all of us, I can't compliment him on the fact that he's not flabby looking?" Ethan asked as he looked between the two.

"Does Danny know you go around complementing other guys?" Scott asked looking hard at the other alpha.

"Yeah, so does he, we compliment, we don't ogle or grope. Just because we're together doesn't mean we're blind, tell me you don't think there are other pretty girls around Scott." Ethan challenged knowing full well he'd caught Scott off guard.

"Okay, okay, gods, I do not need to be hearing this from any of you, I'm okay now though so kindly give me some space…and maybe a change of clothes, being naked around you guys is just plain awkward outside of the locker room." Stiles said turning back to face them.

Scott just smirked as he handed over Stiles' backpack filled with his homework and clothes. "Next time just use your jeep instead of turning into a deer then." Scott said sticking his tongue out.

"Huh?" Stiles asked as the bag slipped from his fingers and dropped straight to the floor, contents spilling out. He couldn't quite register what Scott had just said, deer? What was he talking about? However he was brought back to the harsh reality of what had happened to bring him here, began recalling the sound of hooves on pavement, on stairs, ground, it was jumbled, remembered antlers throwing a werewolf and seemingly pinning them to the wall before being pushed back. He remembered trying to shout, to speak and getting only snorts and bugles. "Mom, remind me if and when Al wakes up that I need to strangle him." Stiles said as he lay back again and pressed his hand to his forehead.

"Right, I'll do that, right after I'm finished trying to help him wake up, the touch of death is tricky to turn around." Claudia said as she turned her attention to the gypsy wolf. "Scott could you do me a favor and help keep Cora warm, she's going to be hurting for a while, that ability of his, it's like the coldest winter just reaching in and grabbing your heart." Claudia said as she worked her own way on Álmos.

"Um, how…how do I do that?" Scott asked getting a little apprehensive. Derek may be passed out, but if he woke up seeing him and his little sister cuddled together may prove dangerous for his health. The idea of doing the same with his pack present, Isaac wouldn't likely care, hell he was likely used to the idea of Scott cuddling with someone. Aiden and Ethan though? He was less sure on them.

"Well I'd say by climbing in beside her and wrapping an arm around her but considering your sudden apprehension I'm not sure." Claudia said with a smirk, looking over to the twins and giving them a look as though asking for them to leave for now. "Aiden, Ethan, I appreciate your concern, but you can go home now, I'm sure Danny and Lydia will want to know everyone's okay." she said the pair looking at one another and nodding, she had a point and so they got up and began to head out. "Isaac, you can either stay here or go and inform Allison that things will be fine, I'm sure she and Lydia have already had plenty to discuss already." Claudia added as she looked to the other remaining member of Scott's pack who nodded in turn and began to head off as well, being sure to let Scott know that if he needed him he'd come right back over, same went for Stiles. They both nodded their heads and said thanks before the door closed behind him.

Stiles looked toward Scott as he slowly got up and made his way over to the couch where Cora was, slowly moving in beside her and wrapping an arm around her to pulls her closer to his body, feeling the unnatural chill of her skin and immediately tightening his embrace. He could feel the cold slowly slipping free from her, dissipating, being replaced with his warmth and this seemed to bring him some comfort. Stiles from where he was laying down could see the color returning to Cora's face and could see the same very slowly happening with Álmos. He proceeded to turn to his still pale mate, his heart shattering just a little more before he pulled himself over to lay on top of him, not bothering to put his clothes back on as his body pressed firmly to the other male's.

"Come back to me babe…please." he whispered softly into Derek's ear, that whisper seemed to wind itself around the room, filling it, seeping into the very fabric of the room as a jolt went through Derek. His eyes snapped open and he found himself being held by a very naked, very warm Stiles. His eyes flitted around a little, seeing the ghost of Stiles' mother nearby helping his cousin, seeing Scott over on the couch with his sister, but resting on the warm brown eyes looking down at him, full of so many mixed emotions it was making even his head swim. He just reached up weakly with his arms, placing his hands to either side of his mate's face before pulling him down and kissing him deeply. Stiles' hand snapped up to frame Derek's face in a similar fashion as they held each other close.

With the unmistakable sound of her brother and Stiles making out Cora began stirring as well, now desperate to get out of earshot. She was still drained though and so she settled for trying to cover her ears using a combination of Scott's chest and one of his hands as she grumbled something about stupid brothers and their making out with their boyfriends. Scott wasn't complaining as he reached around with his other arm and held her close, Derek breaking the kiss to glare and then sigh knowing just how futile it was to interfere with them. The break in the make out session worked out well for the other pair as Cora looked over to her brother with the death glare to end all death glares.

"I nearly die and the first thing I get to hear when I wake up is the two of you making out like hormonal…okay so one of you is a hormonal teenager, but come on." she groaned out into Scott's chest.

"I nearly died too Cora, so I'm sorry if waking up to see my mate's face caused some pretty extreme reactions." Derek said in response as he shifted a little under Stiles so that they were a bit more comfortably positioned.

"Children, please behave yourselves." Claudia said. "For the love of god, I'm dead and I still have to treat you like children." she said as she got up and adjust the pillows under Álmos' back and head so he was somewhat sitting up. He still hadn't woken up, but then again, as anyone around here could tell he didn't have anyone close to him, not like Derek had Stiles, or how Cora had Scott. As far as appearances went he was a lone wolf, and it seemed like it would stay that way. He certainly hadn't made it seem as though he had anyone of a romantic nature in his life, and even if he did, there were no guarantees that person was still alive.

"Is Al going to be okay?" Derek asked as he looked over at his still comatose cousin, he was breathing at least so maybe his healing factor could kick in, but he worried about what would happen without him around to help.

"Once you and Cora are okay enough I'll ask you to come get close to him. There are two things that help, someone who loves you as much as Stiles love you Derek, someone who cares as much as Scott is growing to care for Cora," Claudia began to explain, "and Pack. In short Derek a family is what helps mend this particular kind of damage, that warmth and security ensuring a safe place to recover. This is why it's hard for a werewolf to heal when they're on their own, it's less the fact that they can't, but that the security is lacking. When you're alone you are always on your toes, you don't rest, you don't let your guard down and that taxes your abilities, slows them all down to a crawl." she concluded.

"That explains why Derek didn't heal right until after he got back to his loft after the Alpha Pack fiasco." Cora said as she picked her head up a little. "Though bro, I have to say I'm really disappointed in you still, that chick was so wrong for you."

"I don't believe you ever voiced a problem with her up until now, perhaps if you had we could have avoided certain issues." Derek said trying to burn away the thoughts resurfacing concerning his sordid affair with Scott and Stiles' former English teacher. It caused a sudden surge of pain through his body and even Stiles could feel how it was searing inside him. Derek began balling up and Stiles immediately reached forward and gripped his arms tightly.

"Derek! What the hell is going on? Mom!?" Stiles asked panicking some more. He couldn't afford another panic attack so soon after the last one he had.

"Damnit, okay, Cora, rule number one of recovery after having an evil spirit literally try ripping your heart out, do _NOT_ bring up bad memories or anything that will trigger guilt or remorse, otherwise it will cause the person severe pain, understood?" Claudia said scolding the younger of the Hale siblings. Her spirit then moved over to where Derek was balled up, gripping the bed as it felt like his heart were being crushed in his chest. His breath was coming in sharp painful bursts and his eyes were watering and he was practically wailing in agony. "Stiles, I need you to stay calm now, the only one who can help him is you right now and I need you to keep yourself together." she said as she placed a translucent hand over her son's, a gentle warmth radiating from it.

Stiles just looked up at the ghostly image of his mother and gulped audibly. "Mom, I don't even know what to do…what if I mess something up?" he asked as he kept holding his mate tightly in his arms.

"Your instincts helped carry you here, they helped you save him once, and they will help you again. Just have faith in yourself, have faith in Derek." Claudia said softly before stepping back. Stiles could only nod, trying to pull in whatever confidence he had, that confidence he'd begun to build when he knew he and Derek were meant to be together, the confidence he'd been building when he discovered that he had a talent that could help protect those around him, the confidence he'd been gaining as he began to show talent on the lacrosse field.

Derek was barely breathing now, his cries now choked sobs as he clutched his chest, claws wanting to open his chest and tear out the offending organ that was causing him so much pain. "Babe, just stay with me." Stiles said as he leaned down and kissed his cheek, reaching around beneath his love's clawed hands and pressing his hand to Derek's chest. "Please just stay with me." he added as he envisioned the area around Derek's heart, picturing what could only be the shards of ice still lingering around his heart, shards that had grown in response to his regret and sorrow. He pictured his own will manifesting around them, pictured a warm light wrapping around each one, forcing them to pull away, melting them back. He could feel that foreign will, the one that had placed these here to start with fighting against him. '_Get your hands off my mate you son of a bitch._' Stiles hissed out mentally as that light took a brighter, hotter turn, scorching away the lingering traces of István's perverse intrusion. A sudden scream caused Stiles to relent on the heat, realizing he'd likely just hurt Derek now more than helped, but also knowing that the last of that frozen touch had been driven clean out of him. "I…I'm sorry babe." Stiles said as Derek turned around to face him, the Hale's breath still hitching a little, but slowly improving.

Derek was now burying his face into Stiles' chest, holding him tight as he did so. The healing touch that he'd just given him had done much the same to him as István's had, though instead of being forced to relive every horrifying and traumatic experience he'd ever had he'd been reminded of the good things that had come into his life. The last thing he saw before Stiles stopped was the two of them, together, but it wasn't something that had happened, not yet at least. But it was something he was longing to see happen.

Cora by this point had managed to pull herself to her feet with Scott's help, moving over to the bed that had been moved downstairs by Isaac and the twins to help accommodate Stiles and his big, brooding boyfriend. "I'm sorry bro." Cora said softly as she sat on the other side of him, resting a hand gently on his shoulder, almost timidly as though expecting him to break it. He didn't though, instead pulling her over to hold along with Stiles, practically starting a group hug.

"It's okay, not like we've ever dealt with something as hellish as that." Derek said softly as he held both his mate and his sister close before slowly loosening his grip on them. "I think we'd be better off now trying to get Al up." he added, only to be interrupted by a rather irritated groan.

"Meg fogom ölni azt a rohadék." came the sound of Al's voice from his bed as he struggled to move, sighing in consternation as he found he could not. "Ghosts who possess family members really suck!" he shouted tiredly, the level of annoyance in his tone rivaling Stiles at his worst.

"Or we could keep listening to him vent, I wonder how many Hungarian curse words I can learn in the next hour." Stiles said with a wide smirk, gaining a few chuckles from the other people and a side-wise smirk from the disgruntled Alpha still struggling to move.


	24. Knock Knock Who's There?

The remaining pack members all spread out after the ordeal with the strigoi possessed Peter Hale, all admittedly a bit shaken, and rightfully so. Isaac returned to the Argent household, listening to Victoria bickering with Gerard, and sitting down with Chris who looked like he was fighting between screaming at them and laughing at the hell Victoria was putting his father through. Allison was in her room doing homework, keeping a safe distance from Isaac to ensure the conflict remained between her dead mother and her half-dead grandfather.

"And if I have to see one more ooze-soaked tissue on the floor I swear to god I'm going to possess you and make you take a nice long dive off the balcony." Victoria boomed out as she made her way out of the room, ignoring the door and going to the living room, half glaring at Isaac as he sat there quietly sitting on the couch. "Good afternoon Isaac." she said icily as she settled over in a corner.

"Hi Mrs. Argent." Isaac said quietly in reply as he began to start his own homework. "Just checking, but, is everything okay here? No attacks or anything today right?" he asked sheepishly.

"No, why would there be?" Chris asked as he looked up from the book he was reading, not some book on the supernatural or gun maintenance but a simple novel he'd picked up from the library.

"Well, Derek, his sister and their cousin were attacked today…Peter's been possessed. I just wanted to make sure that no one tried breaking in or anything." Isaac said, almost instantly regretting saying so as Chris smirked at him. "Right, nevermind, arsenal in the office, forgot about that." Isaac added as he looked down at his homework.

"I haven't had to deal with a strigoi problem like this before; I appreciate you checking in on us Isaac." Chris replied getting a light sigh from Victoria. "Victoria, I know you don't like him but he's at least seen what they're capable of, and out of all Derek's betas he's probably the most level headed." Chris said looking over his shoulder.

"He's still a werewolf Chris." Victoria said as she eyed Isaac with a mix of contempt and caution.

"Victoria, that's enough. He hasn't hurt, or killed anyone that we ourselves wouldn't have done the same." Chris said as he got up and moved to the ghost of his wife. "Let it go." he added firmly as he faced his wife's ghost. She simply looked hard into his eyes before moving away into the office, drifting down the hall.

"I'm sorry Mr. Argent, maybe I should just go." Isaac said as he began packing up and making his way for the door.

"No, stay here, she may not like it, but I'm not going to have you risk being caught alone with a demonically possessed werewolf out and about. Besides," Chris said moving over and sitting next to Isaac, "Victoria needs to let go of all this hate or she's going to end up stuck here forever. She's not going to move on." Chris added as he rested his elbows on his knees and nested his forehead in his hands.

Isaac wasn't sure what he should do in this instance, it seemed like Chris was dealing with some serious internal conflict and it wasn't easing up any. He very tentatively reached over and rested a hand on Chris' shoulder and squeezed it gently. Chris tensed for a moment but then looked over and shook his head appreciatively. "I'm sorry if I'm making life any harder for you or for Allison." he said quietly. "I don't want you guys going through any more hell than you already have just because I'm around." the curly haired beta said letting go and huddling into himself a bit. He'd always been insecure, always been a little on the worried side that he was just in the way, that he was just making things worse, possibly lingering emotions from his own father treating him like the fuck up he'd begun to believe he was.

Chris leaned back and looked over at Isaac and sighed. "It's not you Isaac, this has been coming for a while now, if it weren't for Scott my family would be completely gone, but because of him, because of you, Derek, you helped save the last bits I have. There's a reason why I've stopped hunting you all, and that's because I realized that just because you're monsters, doesn't mean you're the ones that are killing everyone." Chris added as he reached over and pulled Isaac into a short embrace. "Even when you have all the reason in the world." he added as he got up and made his way to his daughter's room, shortly after she was out and sitting beside Isaac, working on their homework together, holding one another's hands.

On the other side of town Danny and Ethan were spending time doing something similar, sitting in the living room listening to some relaxing music as they went over the problem with the algebra assignment, polynomials were murder on the Alpha's brain. "Why can't they make this easier? Why do we even need to know this? I'm sorry but if I have three unknown variables I need to try and solve than something is wrong here." Ethan said with a sigh leaning his head back against the back of the couch.

"I'd actually think that could come in handy right about now." Danny said as he turned the page over to double check his own work.

"What do you mean?" Ethan said looking back down to where his mate was seated on the floor in front of the couch.

"Well if what you told me about the nemeton is true than you're dealing with multiple unknown variables that will causing a significant difference in things around here. Trying to understand where they're coming from would work a lot like this." Danny said as he began working on things once more.

Ethan actually puzzled over that for a moment before nodding his head. It made sense in more ways than he liked, his life had become a mess of unknown variables moving in to get at not just him, not just his brother, but practically all of Beacon Hills. The thought seemed almost overwhelming but as he felt Danny's hand move up to rest on his knee he looked down, smiling at him as he leaned down to kiss him softly.

"Alright then, well if that's the case, I guess I should just treat this assignment like the other things that threaten me." Ethan said, kiss breaking.

"And how is that?" Danny asked looking up with a smile at his mate, half expecting him to wolf out and shred the assignment with his claws.

"Tackle it head on and take it apart piece by piece." Ethan replied with a smirk as he set back to work, dissecting the problems completely until he understood everything that he could before chugging along. They both wound up finishing up their homework at about the same time, Danny helping to keep the frustrated Alpha calm.

When they both heard a knock at the door they looked at one another with equally confused expressions on their faces. Danny shrugged and got up and went to check the door, standing there on the front step were a pair of young men, roughly their age in white shirts and black slacks each holding books. Ethan slowly got up and made his way over behind Danny who spoke up once Ethan was within range.

"Hello, can I help you with anything?" he asked the two figures standing there, looking perkier than most would expect.

"Yes, we were wondering if you'd be interested in speaking to us about our church, we're going door to door trying to see if anyone in the neighborhood would be interested in hearing more about the Church of Latter Day Saints." the older of the pair said taking a step closer to the couple in the house, Ethan stepping forward a little defensively, not caring for the obviously forward behavior of the two men at the door. Getting a very subtle glare from the missionaries.

"I appreciate it, but my parents and I are very much rooted in our own beliefs. Sorry to inconvenience you." Danny said with nothing but sincerity. "It's getting late though, so if you need to get something to eat I know of a nice place just down the street."

"I was hoping it would be easier to get in here." the older figure said as he went to place his hand on the door, pulling it back in agony, cursing lowly as he did so. "Fuck! What the hell is this?" he shouted as he tried to once more force his way in, Ethan shifting and preparing to strike them down, only to find he couldn't. As the two seeming missionaries tried to force their way in they were thrown out onto the lawn. Danny seemed a bit puzzled, but a growing look of amusement and realization.

"What's going on babe, why can't I shift here?" Ethan asked, still a little panicked. Danny simply pointed to a statue that was sitting in the small alcove of the doorway, a tiki emblem that Ethan was far from familiar with. "And who is that supposed to be?" he asked looking over at the two, now unconscious, Mormon missionaries on the lawn outside.

"Seems Lono really doesn't like conflict, he's the Hawaiian god of peace." Danny said as the statue gleamed a bit. "And this time of year way back when war was absolutely forbidden." he added with a smirk as he slowly turned to face his boyfriend and kissed him gently. "So, do you want to help me bring them inside and see if they're still possessed? Or should we let them lay out there?" Danny asked with a playful smirk.

"Well I'd say let them squirm out there, but the idea of them still being possessed means we can't just let them run loose. Just bring that statue with us; I don't want them suddenly pouncing on us as soon as we cross over." Ethan said as he moved out and made ready to carry the two unconscious people into the house. A few people were outside looking with a level of confusion as Ethan reached down under both men's shoulders and hoisted them up. "Security system malfunctioned, loose wire or something, ended up zapping them." he explained getting a few nods in reply, made sense, a jolt like that would knock people back a bit.

Once they were inside Danny and Ethan brought them to a spare room and tied them to a pair of chairs from the kitchen. They'd been knocked out cold by whatever force Lono's effigy had released but Danny made sure to place it back in the alcove in the doorway before rejoining Ethan in the spare room.

"So, how long do you think they'll be out?" Danny asked as he sat down beside his boyfriend, resting his head on the werewolf's shoulder. "I mean I would really like to avoid having to keep them tied up like this, really not my style." the Hawaiian teen added as he watched the pair's heads lolling there.

"I don't know I'm just hoping, JESUS!" he shouted as the two sudden woke up and tried ripping out of the restraints they had, mostly jump ropes, and lunged at them, teeth gnashing at them. "Well I'm glad that those ropes are holding." Ethan said backing up. "So, I'm taking a wild guess here and saying that they're still possessed, what do you think babe?" Ethan asked as he looked at the pale sunken faces of the missionary duo tied to the chairs here. Danny sighed and nodded his head in reply, getting up from where he was sitting and going over and slapping the both of them, unfortunately that didn't quite seem to do much other than make them even angrier, ropes now making a grinding sound against the metal struts of the dining room chairs. "I really don't think slapping the devil out of them is going to help babe." Ethan added as he saw the pair glower and snap at Danny.

"No, but it was worth a shot right?" Danny asked rejoining his boyfriend and just staring at the snarling and bound individuals in front of them, at a loss for what to do. "Would Stiles or anyone have a clue as to what we could do?" he asked just looking blankly at the far from pleasant sight in front of him.

"No clue, you wanna go call them, maybe let your parents know there are a bunch of snarling Mormons in your guest room?" Ethan added with a smirk, Danny laughed a bit at that concept and pulled out his phone to call Stiles, he just hoped that things were okay by now.

"Hey Stiles, it's Danny, we have two possessed Mormon missionaries tied up at my house, need to know if you have any idea how to perform an exorcism that can save these guys?" Danny asked once he heard the other end pick up.

"Okay I'm torn between making a gay porno reference and asking what makes them any more possessed than most of them already are, so I'm going to do both. What kind of movie are you shooting and what's the difference between these guys and normal Mormons?" Stiles asked, Ethan laughing in that background causing the two possessed figures to look very confused.

"Funny Stiles, but I'm not in that business and these guys got knocked out by the statue my parents have of Lono, and they look like they want to eat me and Ethan for dinner." Danny replied. "And no, that's not normal for them." Danny said as he turned to look at them. "Hang on, let me show you." he said turning on the camera on his phone as he aimed it to his captives which immediately lunged for the them, causing the chairs to fall over and their heads to hit the floor, knocking them out again, a couple bruises forming as a result. "That enough evidence to show you we aren't just bullshitting you here?" Danny asked as he turned the phone back around and turned the camera off.

"Right, okay, actually possessed, um…I'd try using sage or something like that, basically cleanse the area around them and force the spirits out." Stiles said, a comment from Al in the background made him suggest adding garlic into the mix as well.

"Right, so I'll just cook something. How are things on your end, Ethan told me something bad happened over there" Danny said as he got up and began heading to the kitchen, going through the cabinet.

"Things are fine now, had some trouble with Derek's uncle being possessed too, bigger fish though than what you were dealing with it would seem." Stiles said with a sigh from the other end.

"Well so long as things are okay now, and also I would never be able to call myself your friend without making this reference 'There's always a bigger fish'." Danny said with a smirk grabbing some of the ground sage and chopped garlic, mixing it together and cooking up some rice to add it too, he figured if this worked he could claim that the pair had suffered from exhaustion and passed out on the lawn on their way to the next house.

"Danny, you keep this up you're going to be my new best friend." Stiles replied, a loud protest coming from Scott somewhere in the room behind him. Danny simply laughed a bit as he finished up the herbal rice remedy.

"Okay, I have things set here now, here's hoping this works out, thanks Stiles." Danny said before hanging up, getting a similar reply in return as Danny came back with the mixture and tipped the Mormons' heads back, shoving some of the rice into their mouths causing the pair to scream slightly before falling slack back to where they had been. He then motioned for Ethan to help him untie them and move them to the spare bed as the pair began stirring a little bit; looking around very confused and very worried.

"Elder Jensen…where are we?" the younger one asked looking at the Hawaiian décor of the room.

"You're at my place; you were asking me if I wanted to know about your church and you collapsed, just how much walking have you two done today?" Danny asked as he put the rice aside. It certainly smelled nice and the two of them looked over at it hungrily. He smiled and handed it over to them and let them dig into it. "I thought you two might need something to eat."

"Well it tastes good, I didn't know rice could actually have this much flavor." the younger missionary said downing another spoonful to quiet his stomach.

"Thank you, this, this means a lot…um…you won't tell the group we're here with about this will you?" the older of the pair asked. "If they knew we had gone without lunch like we did today…"

"Don't worry about it; I don't even know where you guys are based here." Danny said with a soft chuckle. "Just finish eating that, get something in your system, my boyfriend and I need to finish our homework." he added taking Ethan's hand and heading back to the living room.

"You…you're what?" the younger Mormon stammered as he looked between their faces, then down to their hands, the older one reached over and clasped a hand on his shoulder. "So…sorry, we um, I've…I'm sorry." he said diverting his gaze back to the floor and avoiding looking at them.

"Sorry, this is his first time encountering anyone who is in a relationship like the one that, well like the one you have." Elder Jensen said as he gestured briefly to them. "I don't think I have to make a point of stating the view of our church on your relationship." he added trying to remain as civil as he could, though the awkward tension of the room was palpable.

"If you'd rather leave you can, but I wouldn't be a decent person if I let you leave without making sure you're okay. I understand your apprehension, but I have no intention of trying anything, he's more than enough." Danny replied with a bright smile. The pair seemed to ease up some and Danny left with Ethan back to the living room. A short discussion could be heard in the other room, including a few sharp intakes of breath before the others came out after them.

"Do you happen to have any ice packs or something?" Elder Jensen asked as they rounded the corner into the living room, his hand gingerly touching his forehead where a small bruise was forming.

"Yeah, follow me, we keep them in the kitchen, me and Ethan here are on the lacrosse team, injuries happen." Danny said as he helped get them something to bring down the swelling with, grabbing two simple first aid kit grade ice packs. "These should help, I'd still like to ask you to stay so we can make sure neither of you have any concussions or anything." Danny added as the pair pressed the cold objects to their mirror image injuries.

"Thanks, we really appreciate this, not many people are, well, as hospitable toward us." Jensen replied looking at the floor. "Not the most popular door to door salesmen." he added with a slight grin. "I remember the last time we went out to do this we literally had someone slam the door in our faces. I ended up with a screen imprint on my nose." he added showing some embarrassment.

"It happens, but if Hawaiians know how to do anything right that would be hospitality." Danny said as he offered them the two remaining seats in the dining area. They sat down, holding the ice packs in place and finishing up the rice Danny had cooked up for them.

"So do you two remember anything before coming here at all?" Ethan asked as he made his way over to Danny, still being a bit protective.

"Not really, I don't even remember going to any other houses…the last thing I remember thinking about was how much…" Jensen began to say.

"How much you missed your family?" the other missionary asked, Jensen's head snapped up and he nodded his head. "I felt the same way." he added before looking back over to Danny and Ethan. "They like to send new missionaries to different areas, cut the umbilical in a way, and keep your family from trying to influence you. Need to be able to stand on your own two feet." the younger Mormon said trying to explain why they'd miss their families. "You can get a little homesick after a while."

"I feel like something happened after that, but the last thing I can really remember is feeling really cold, then I think I must have gone back to bed because…I don't know maybe things have just gotten so routine that I just don't remember anything anymore." Jensen said as he just clutched his head painfully.

"Hey, just relax okay, take a breather and head back to your base after you've finished eating, that our my parents can give you a ride back once they get home." Danny said as he brought over some water for them as well. "Could be you guys are just stressed out, I've had some days where everything just seems to vanish from memory, don't freak out too much okay?" Danny said as he moved his way over to grab the chairs from the other room. They nodded as he came back with the chairs behind him so he and Ethan wouldn't need to stand in place sitting down opposite the missionaries.

"Your parents won't mind taking us back? I'd say we'd be fine to go back on our own, but I think we'd likely get lost. Today has been that much of a haze." Jensen said as they remained sitting there eating and regaining their seemingly sapped strength.

"No, they'd be happy to, though I will let you know trying to convert them will likely end with you two being introduced to a luau." Danny replied with a smirk. "Just ask Ethan here, both he and his brother were dragged to one not too long ago after he and I started seeing each other." he continued saying with a bright smile.

"I couldn't eat for days, too much food." Ethan said, memories flying back of the borderline banquet that had been placed in front of him. Even as a werewolf it had been hard to manage.

"We may have to try simply for the food then." the younger of the pair said laughing a bit, the other shaking his head as he moved to get up, wobbling a little bit, Ethan moved over and offered his arm which Jensen took gratefully.

"Hey Elder Maxwell, next time we don't skip lunch okay?" he asked with a nervous smile as he stood there, Ethan helping him stay on his feet until he could manage on his own.

"Deal." Maxwell said as they heard Danny's parents pull into the driveway. "Guess that's out ride?" he asked as he joined Jensen and followed Danny to the door. He came back later without the missionaries and walked over to his boyfriend.

"Okay, so for my first experience dealing with something like this how'd I do?" Danny asked wrapping his arms around Ethan and kissing him softly.

"Lemme put it this way babe, from now on, you protect me." Ethan replied as he returned the kiss happily.


	25. Whatever You Say Bambi

Aiden returned to Lydia's parent's home nearly an hour after he had left the loft, tending to their regular activities which included homework and may or may not have involved some personal exploration of human and werewolf biology. Once the pair had finished with the more hypothetical of the situations they went back downstairs to have dinner with Lydia's mother, her father off doing something that the other didn't truly care about. Their divorce was still being finalized but Lydia's mother had learned ever since the incident the years before on the football field, after having been told by her teacher that she was excelling far faster than her fellow students, and after nearly having her killed by one of her teachers, to be more attentive of her daughter. This was actually working rather well for Lydia; it was nice actually having someone there for her when she was home instead of being isolated to her room all the time. Especially now that she had realized she was a banshee of all things it was nice having something to keep her focused and to help her mind not reel out of control. It wasn't as bad at school, not with all of the classes and people to keep her mind engaged. But at home there wasn't always that guarantee that she'd be able to keep her mind off of things she didn't want to end up falling headlong into.

"So how are things going at school? How's the gossip pool?" Lydia's mother asked as she finished up her relatively small meal, Aiden looking down at his plate and inwardly whimpering at the seemingly microscopic portions, at least to his eyes.

"Gossip is running a bit dry, drama is high as usual, but then again what do you expect from a bunch of teenagers?" Lydia replied with a shrug before taking a minuscule bite of her own meal.

"Yeah and then there's always substitute teachers jumping off of the roof." Aiden added in a low mumble earning an eye roll from Lydia and a short nervous cough from her mother as she covered her mouth. "Sorry, thought she said trauma for a second." Aiden said tensing up and drawing in toward himself a bit. Lydia's mother nodded sharply and put her napkin down before looking over to her daughter.

"Alright, and classes are going alright? You've been able to avoid any more episodes I hope." she said as she began eating again. Aiden just looked on wondering how it was possible for these two women to live off of such a small amount of food.

"Yes, everything has been fine mother; grades are at a steady A across the board, having some issues adjusting to dealing with a new teaching style every other month." Lydia replied with a sigh as she made her way over her plate taking select parts of her meal and chewing them thoroughly before swallowing, everything seemed mechanical, analytic to her actions, almost as though something were occupying her thoughts.

Aiden looked over for a moment before reaching over and gently taking her hand in his, the look he gave asking 'Are you okay?'

Lydia glanced to her hand and then up at Aiden with a small smile, but her eyes and her heartbeat told Aiden everything he needed to know. Lydia had confirmed what he had figured. She was about to scream, not just a typical girly shriek at something like a bug, someone was going to die, Aiden was just hoping it wasn't anyone they knew, or anyone in the room for that matter.

"And how are things going for you two lovebirds?" Lydia's mother asked looking at their joined hands with a fond glimmer on her smiling face.

"Things are going fine for us, not too many hiccups so far, a few little couple spats but those are to be expected." Lydia replied waving her hand in the air dismissively.

"Well that's good, you know Aiden you seem to be a much better person than her last boyfriend." Lydia's mother said as she soon finished off her meal and moved her plate and utensils to the dishwasher.

Lydia could see the slight tension in Aiden at the reference to Jackson, it may have been a compliment but he'd always had an issue being constantly reminded of the fact that she had been Jackson's long before she was his. She had a mate, and in a way he always felt as though she wasn't really his, and that he was just a distraction to her. Even though he'd never admit it he'd wanted to have the same thing between himself and Lydia that his brother had in Danny. He was playing along for now, but he wondered if he'd ever be able to get over this feeling, or if Lydia could ever bring herself to really move on from Jackson.

Lydia finished up her meal and watched as Aiden practically inhaled his own, he'd likely end up snagging something on his way back to the penthouse that he and Ethan were still staying in, Deucalion having the decency to keep the funds moving for them. He may not be their Alpha anymore, not after he was disgraced by Scott and Derek, but he still felt responsible for them. Regardless the pair got up from the table and put their dishes away in turn and followed Lydia's mother to the living room to watch some television the news was wrapping up and another unexplained death was broadcast one of the neighboring towns, but the method caused Lydia to grip Aiden's hand a bit more firmly than may have been appropriate. The person had drowned in a shallow stream, no evidence of having been unconscious of knocked out, no drugs. So either they drowned themselves, or had been held under the water. The lack of ligature marks on the neck or bruising on the shoulders suggested the former though.

"Lydia?" Aiden asked when his girlfriend's grip was beginning to near uncomfortable. She looked over and then back at the screen, that must have been the person who's death she'd just forecast earlier at dinner. But there was more to it than that; meanwhile Lydia's mother seemed to have not really noticed what was being exchanged between them. "Do we need to go upstairs?" he asked as he moved to stand before Lydia shook her head.

"No, we need to go to Derek; I need to let him know something." Lydia said softly enough for Aiden to hear before she got up and made for the door. "Aiden and I are going to go over to his place tonight, okay mom?" Lydia asked as she waited for her boyfriend to follow suit.

"Alright, just make sure he wraps up if anything happens while you're there." Her mother said still looking at the T.V. screen. She was trying, but she still had a ways to go before she was mother of the year. With that though the pair rushed off back to the loft where the Smucz-Hale pack was now recuperating.

"So um, yeah, when are we going to get something to eat? I'm absolutely starving." Cora said as for the third time in a row her stomach rumbled unhappily. "I'm starting to understand exactly what my stomach is saying, it's speaking wolf." she groaned in a similar fashion to her stomach.

"Well until I'm certain no one is going to pass out again I can't start cooking now can I?" Stiles said as he looked over at her, his hand no linked with Derek's as they sat up on their makeshift bed. That seemed enough to quiet both Cora and her displeased stomach. "Al how are you doing, you think you're awake enough to handle something to eat?" Stiles asked looking over to the gypsy wolf on the other side of the room.

"Let me put it to you this way, if you don't start cooking soon I'm going to have to start chewing my own arm for sustenance." Al said as he looked over at Stiles and then playfully began nibbling at his own arm. Stiles smiled and got out of the bed leaving a gentle kiss on Derek's forehead before heading over to the cooking station.

"Hey mom, mind helping me figure out what I can make here?" Stiles asked opening the fridge and freezer and seeing a little lack of material to work with. "I'm going to take a wild guess here and say today was supposed to be grocery day." he added as he turned to look at the pack and was met with three growling stomachs. "Right, okay what can I do mom?" he asked as Claudia's spirit glided over to him, that was definitely still a bit unnerving, then again maybe he was just too used to the sounds of heels clicking across the floor, or even claws scraping against it for the soundless movement to register well.

"Well, I see soup, I see bread, let's see, cheese, macaroni…aha, tomato macaroni soup and grilled cheese." Claudia said poking her head through a few doors as she scanned the little makeshift kitchen on this part of the large main room. "Hmmm, that or tuna melts, maybe you should check with the rest of them." Claudia added pointing her spectral thumb over to the wolves. Stiles took her lead and moved over to them.

"Okay so tomato macaroni soup and tuna melts sound good?" he asked, though it seemed moot at this point, all of them were simply glaring hungrily. "Okay, okay, chef Stiles to the rescue." Stiles added whipping back around and quickly getting to work on the meal, praying that he wouldn't have to somehow fend off a bunch of starving werewolves while he was preparing this.

Just as he'd begun plating the sandwiches and ladling the soup into bowls he saw a shadow looming up behind him and he felt himself tense up a little only to see Scott move over to help him carry things back over. "Figured that despite your excellent balance skills you could use some help." the younger Alpha said with a smirk.

"Uh-huh, yeah, real nice Scott, maybe I should pick on you more too." Stiles said in return making his way over to Derek and nearly tripping over himself on the way there, inwardly cursing himself as he regained his balance. "One word Scott and you're getting a bowl of hot soup poured down your pants." Stiles warned as he could practically feel the held back laughter from his best friend.

"Okay, I promise I won't mention how glad we should all be that your middle name isn't grace." Scott said unable to hold back any longer.

"Cora, I'm sorry, but I may have to kill your almost boyfriend." Stiles said after he put the bowl and plate down on a small table beside Derek waiting for Scott to make his way over to her before going over and play-strangling him, the pair laughing it out and moving on to bring over Al's meal in turn. "Okay folks, dig in." Stiles added only now realizing he and Scott didn't have anything to eat, the last of it had ended up being split between the recovering lycanthropes.

"What about you two? Are either of you going to have anything to eat?" Cora asked as she made the same observation.

"Ah, that is why it pays off to have a cell phone that has the local pizza place on speed dial. Please with all the times we've been over here do you think I hadn't made sure we stayed well supplied?" Stiles said as he pulled his phone out and called it in.

"And why didn't you think to order us pizza instead of giving us this?" Cora added in with an annoyed expression.

"Please, if I know you like I do, you're going to have pizza anyway, this is just a warm up so that you won't eat me while we have to wait for the pizza to get here…hello, yeah, three meat lovers pizzas and one supreme please, yep…yes that same place. Yes I realize this place is creepy…damnit I'm paying for it I don't care if you're expecting Dracula to swoop down and make you his minion…okay thank you, goodbye." Stiles said replying to both Cora and the person on the other end of the line.

"Okay, I'm guessing that person has been here more than once." Álmos replied as he like the other werewolves had likely heard the other side of the conversation.

"Yeah, I think it's the same guy who came here last time, and the time before that…hell I think they just keep sending the same person, that or they have clones of him they just mass produce." Stiles said with a shrug as he made his way back over to Derek and sat down beside him and began to feed him himself, Cora rolling her eyes and Derek smirking a bit.

"You know I can't say I've ever been pampered quite like this, if it weren't for the fact that it nearly took me dying for it to happen I'd say we should do this more often." the hazel eyed man said as he leaned in and kissed Stiles gently.

"Heh, no, let's not have something like this happen again, I could do without that." Stiles added as his fragmented memories of going deer mode were beginning to organize themselves. "As much as being a deer is fun, I really don't want to risk it during hunting season." he added with a shake of his head.

"I understand babe, and don't worry, I am not going to let some dumbass with a shotgun use you for target practice even if you do get all fuzzy again." Derek teased harmlessly as rubbed their foreheads together gently.

"Well if it weren't for the fact that our old house is burnt to the ground I'd say we could all move back out there, hunters were banned from the area, and then with the preserve that's even more space for Bambi here to go leaping around when the mood hits." Cora said with a wicked little smirk.

Derek and Stiles both just glared at her, Derek due to the mention of the old house, bringing back some very bad memories, and Stiles for the obvious Disney inspired insult.

"I might be clumsy, and I might be prone to turning into a deer but I can at least tell the difference between a skunk and a flower." Stiles said coldly as he heard a knock at the door, moving over and expecting the pizza delivery man, only to see Aiden and Lydia standing there with the boxes.

"You guys owe us for these." Lydia said as she stormed in and made her way over to Derek, looking down at his still seemingly vulnerable state. "Man demanded we pay and then bolted, you guys seriously need to find someone less prone to wetting themselves." she added looking over to Scott and Stiles.

"Um, you guys mind explaining what you're doing here?" Scott asked from where he was sitting with Cora on the couch.

"Thought you guys should know there was another suicide, drowning, in a stream. Scott, it sounds almost identical to how you guys found out Matt had been killed." Lydia said as she looked over at the younger of the two Alphas in the room.

"Wait, Matt as in crazy Allison, Jackson puppet-master, killed by Grandpa Argent Matt?" Stiles stammered as he fumbled around a little in the air with his hands, very visibly freaked out.

"I can't say for certain it's him, but if Al's grandfather has brought him back to life we could be in some serious trouble." Lydia said as she moved over to one of the beanbag chairs. And sat down, followed closely by Aiden. "Speaking of Al, I love what you've done with the place, very Bohemian revival." she said, the place had been far from as pleasant looking the last time she had been here, the ceiling skylight had been repaired, the glass and blood cleared out and it was actually refurbished into a respectable looking environment.

"I'm going to assume this is your banshee friend?" Álmos said as he looked over to Stiles and Scott, the both of them nodding. "Well then I take that as I high compliment Ms. Martin, I have been told you're quite the fashionista." he added with a warm smile.

"Quite the fashionista? I am _the_ fashionista around here." Lydia corrected Álmos with a playful little smirk.

"And oh so modest I see." Álmos teased as he stirred a bit on his bed and sat up straighter, Lydia looking at him with a mix of amusement and haughtiness. "You're certainly a refreshing individual to say the least Lydia; glad to see that there's at least one potent female presence around here that isn't a disembodied spirit." Álmos added, sighing.

"If I didn't know better I'd swear your cousin is trying to keep up with my level of sass." Lydia said looking over at Derek before going back to look at the Romani. "I have to say it's always nice to have someone who isn't intimidated by me to hold a conversation with, better than most of the ones I have to deal with at school./" Lydia added with a slight flip of her hair, her honey colored eyes resting back on the older Alpha of the room. "So, you're this Álmos I kept hearing about then, glad to see your fashion sense is as good as your interior decorating or I'd have to take you out shopping with me, and believe me, as anyone here could likely attest, that is not a journey for the light hearted." Lydia added with a pert little smirk.

"And forgive some of us for not being among the living." came the voice of Stiles mother as her ghost slipped through the room seemingly sweeping over areas where Álmos' wards had begun to weaken a little.

"Stiles…was that…?" Lydia asked as the image filtered through a wall and appeared on the other side.

"Lydia, my mother, Mom, Lydia Martin." Stiles said introducing the two of them as his mother's ghost moved back into the main room.

"I'd shake your hand dear, but I'm dead, pleasure to meet you though, heaven knows how much Stiles has mentioned you over the years. You know you're lucky I didn't haunt you for a bit just to get you to notice my son." Claudia said with a light chuckle, one Lydia didn't join in on.

"I'm sorry?" Lydia said as she tried and failed to pull her attention from the spirit. "So hold on then, why isn't she trying to possess or kill someone? Did Álmos' grandfather raise her?" she asked sideway toward Stiles.

"Allow me to put it into simple terms, István represents a great force of darkness that refuses to die, as such in order for the balance of nature to be maintained there has to be a great force of light to counter him, hence why I've been around to help keep him from slaughtering half the town. I can't stop everything, but I can at least hold him back from unleashing all hell." Claudia responded to answer her question.

Lydia nodded her head comprehending the logic behind it. "That would certainly explain things, still back to why I came here, I'm worried that this might start getting more difficult if Matt's spirit has been brought back from the dead, heaven knows he has a vendetta against all of us." she said trying to turn her mind back to the reason she'd come here.

"If it is him we should be fine, unless he somehow tries to possess someone, but even then he's killed most of the people he wanted revenge against, and we're pretty much safe from him unless he can manage to grab one of us on our own." Scott said as he looked to Stiles for confirmation, Stiles just nodded, now chewing a little on his lower lip as he thought things over. Matt Daehler coming back from the dead was more than just dangerous, it was downright terrifying, he may not have anyone left to kill from his first trip around but he'd want himself, Scott, Allison, Lydia, Isaac, even Danny dead in a heartbeat. "Stiles I'm not sure I like that look." Scott said breaking Stiles out of his train of thought.

"If Matt is back he may not be able to possess us that easily, but I could easily see him going after people at the school, maybe even swim team members." Stiles said as he took a deep breath.

"Or even lacrosse players." Claudia said as she settled in beside Al on his bed, still helping him recover whether he wanted it or not. "After what you all did he might see it as an easy way to get to the lot of you, and to cause even more chaos and keep you distracted." Claudia added looking to Scott and her son.

"I'd rather not think about that too much, I already have a plan I want to enact, but I need to run it by Deaton and by Al here of course." Stiles said immediately catching the older werewolf's attention.

"What kind of plan are you thinking of, and why do I get the feeling that it could either end really well or really badly?" Al asked as he crossed his legs on his bed.

"Well you guys know what the name of the next full moon is right?" Stiles asked getting a few confused looks from Lydia, Scott, Cora and Aiden but clear and almost worried looks from his mother, Derek and Al.

"The Hunter's Moon, yes what about it? You don't intend for us to use it as an opportunity to strike out at him, you saw what he did to us earlier, he'd be just as powerful then." Derek said as he made to get out of his bed.

"No, not exactly." Stiles said as he pulled out the pendant Deaton had given him. "But this guy might be able to help." Stiles said as the pendant twirled a little between his fingers. "I did some research, and if I can, I want to try and use the Hunter's Moon as a focus to call on the Wild Hunt." Stile added as he looked over to where his mother's spirit sat looking very focused and contemplative.

"That idea is a good one, but you understand you're risking unleashing something just as dangerous as István to deal with him yes?" Claudia said looking at her son. "It's by far the lesser of the two evils, you're not likely to kill anyone who doesn't have it coming already, but you understand the dangers of doing this don't you?" she asked as she looked her son over.

"It's only dangerous if the hunt loses focus of the main target, if I can get it to recognize the threat István poses they'll go after that like a bunch of British nobles going after a fox." Stiles said as he held the pendant in his palm. "And if I really am supposed to be some sort of high priest type than maybe the Horned God will listen a bit more intently." Stiles added as he moved back over to sit next to Derek.

"He may not listen to you alone, but I think if you and Derek were to both request an audience of sorts he might. You represent the two halves of nature, the prey, and the predator, the passive and aggressive." Claudia said moving her hand between the two as she spoke. "The stag, and the wolf." she concluded with a soft smile. "

"Bambi and the Big Bad Wolf." Cora chimed in only to regret it as both Derek and Stiles went over and proceeded to tickle her mercilessly.


	26. Even Scars Can Mend

Once the torture had been doled out and Cora had ended up shifting and throwing the pair off of her things began to calm back down in the loft. Lydia and Al were now dangerously close to becoming best friends and that in itself was a terrifying concept. Once he'd rested up enough and after demolishing one of the four pizzas they ordered Al even did a few readings for the group. Lydia and Aiden's future together looked to be proving a bit rocky as things were, some old tethers getting in the way on both sides and keeping things from being the way that they would like. Problem is, neither was entirely sure of the direction they wanted it to take, and that point had also been made in their reading. Scott's seemed rather monotonous and dull, a repeating loop of trying to get things done and always having to exert just a little more effort to get it to work. It tired him out just listening to it.

When offered to read his cards Stiles respectfully declined. "I don't need to know how difficult things may or may not be. Cora, Scott, cover your ears, this might be too sappy for your sensitive ears." Stiles warned before going on. "But with Derek here, I think I'm going to be fine come what may." Stiles added as he nestled in closer to Derek where they were now gathered amongst the bean bags. "Though Cora, I have a question, why did you bring up the house earlier?" he asked looking over to someone who was shaping out to be like a sister to him.

The youngest Hale simply shrugged and looked over to the inquisitive teen. "It would have made the perfect base for us, You and Derek could have had better privacy, we could train more effectively, and if you went Bambi on us we wouldn't have to worry about the local group of rednecks deciding to take potshots at you." Cora said explaining why she thought it would make the most sense. "I also miss my old room." she added, her voice falling slightly.

Stiles then looked over to his mate and looked firmly into his eyes, searching for anything he could to get off the surface before going forward. "Why don't we just have the place rebuilt?" he asked as he looked over the two most affected by the fire. "I know the two of you really don't like the memories attached to it, but I mean, you're only going to have the bad memories if you just leave it standing the it is, maybe if we did rebuild we could bring back the better ones. Eventually maybe forget the bad." Stiles said gently squeezing Derek's hand in his own, trying to reassure his boyfriend.

Derek however seemed fairly tense and was a little too quiet for Stiles' liking, eventually though, and quietly he spoke up. "I…I don't think I'm ready for that." he said voice rough sounding as though he were fighting to stay in control right now. "It's still…" he began before Stiles got up and looked down firmly at him, hands grasping both sides of his boyfriend's face and holding his eyes steady on his own.

"Listen to me you stubborn sourwolf, and listen good. If you're going to try and hide your feelings of guilt from me you're going to have to try that with another soul mate." Stiles said firmly as he looked down into those tortured eyes that graced Derek's face. "Everyone could you give me and Derek some privacy please, and no listening in, because I _will_ be able to tell." Stiles stated as Lydia and Aiden both got up and made their way to the door, Al following close behind. Scott seemed a little reluctant but Cora practically pushing him out the door seemed to be doing its trick. "You too mom." Stiles added to the spirit hovering in the air overhead.

"Honey, it doesn't matter where I am, I always hear you, so me being here or not being here is moot at this point." Claudia said with a shrug.

Stiles sighed and threw his head back a little. "Okay you can stay if you absolutely insist, but try to stay, less visible." he replied as he turned his focus back to Derek, his mother's ghost fading through a wall and allowing itself to rest. "Alright then, we need to get this out now before I can do anything else. You keep hurting yourself, you keep blaming yourself for things that you couldn't possibly have been able to stop no matter how hard you tried and I'm sick of it okay?" Stiles said locking syrup brown to slate grey. "I know how much being at that house hurts you, I understand the pain that's attached to it, but most of that pain isn't deserved, it isn't fair what happened but you can't keep taking responsibility for it." Stiles spewed out.

"If it hadn't been for me…" Derek began before getting cut off by the hyperactive teen as he clamped his hand over Derek's mouth.

"If it hadn't been you it would have been another member of the pack, Kate could have schmoozed Laura, or Peter, hell she could have gone after Cora and acted like another big sister, do you really think she would have stopped just because she couldn't get at you?" Stiles asked as he slowly pulled his hand away. "She was a manipulative bitch who used you to get what she wanted; she went after you because to her you were an easy target. You'd just had your heart torn to pieces because your dipshit of an uncle decided to convince you to let some other Alpha turn your girlfriend, you were a hormonal and emotional wreck and she capitalized on it." Stiles said, still ranting. "One way or the other she would have gotten the information she wanted. It is not your fault that she decided to use you in order to get it, and she completely betrayed the trust you gave her. If it weren't for the fact that she's already dead I'd probably be whacking her upside the head with my bat for what she did to you." Stiles added as he groaned in irritation. "Maybe I should raise her ghost and torture it for a bit, but I have a feeling she's getting plenty of that in hell." Stiles went on to say, "So please, please, no more blaming yourself for what happened there, okay?" Stiles asked as he got down on his knees to get eye level with his boyfriend.

Derek just looked up blankly at Stiles, listening to him go on and on and as he kept going he could feel the tears building more and more in his eyes. Not once had anyone ever pulled him aside, never sat him down, never pointed out what happened with such a clear view. Yeah, he'd been seduced, yeah, he'd been used and betrayed, but part of him couldn't get over the fact that he should have known better. Part of him should have known she was lying, should have read between the lines and stopped her from getting any further. But Stiles had been right, she'd known exactly what she was doing, exactly what buttons to push, what strings to pull, and he'd been powerless to do anything to stop it, and he'd been oblivious to what it was she had been trying to do. He could still recall the last moment that the two had spent together before the fire, a weekend evening in late December, his mother had been away and Peter was off being a public menace.

"Family doesn't get together much do they?" Kate asked as she sat down beside Derek at the bus stop they'd agreed to meet at.

Derek nodded before perking up a little. "But we're going to be having a reunion soon, have one every year just because everyone spreads out so much. It's a lot of fun when everyone's home, we play games, share stories, it's really great." the younger teenaged Hale had said all those years ago.

"That must be really exciting, wish I could join you, but I know that you don't like bringing new people over, I get that after what happened with your friend Paige, I still can't believe that she was attacked like that, the mountain lions are becoming an issue around this place." Kate said as she leaned against Derek and took his hand in her own.

"Yeah, but it's okay, I promise I'll come over to see you before anything major starts okay?" Derek had said back then, back before his life had been torn to pieces, he'd even leaned in and kissed her.

"Mmmm, sounds great to me babe." Kate said as she stood up and took Derek's hand, walking him back to their place to flood his mind with false promises and cloud it with distracting sensations.

As Derek looked back on all of this he could feel himself getting even more worked up, he didn't even realize just how much until he found himself practically wailing into Stiles' chest, his mate's arms wrapped tightly around him and holding him still. For once the feelings of betrayal and the feeling of being wronged, robbed of something and not once deserving it, it had flipped Derek's view of himself on his head. He wasn't the killer he'd convinced himself he was, he wasn't the person who'd murdered his first love, he wasn't the stupid teenager who got his family brutally murdered. He wasn't the power hungry Alpha looking to make himself stronger by turning a bunch of nobodies no one would miss, and he wasn't the blind idiot who'd ended up being responsible for dozens of deaths at the hands of a psychotic Darach, no one could have seen the truth until it was too late. He wasn't the cold, cruel hearted beast the world had wanted him to be, not anymore, not after this, not after having someone finally stop him and rip him out of the self-destructive spiral he'd fallen into and never realized he he'd even entered.

He was finally letting go, finally feeling himself being silently forgiven by the mental ghosts that had been mauling him all these years. Even by Paige, who he was sure would have finally been happy that he could find someone as stubborn as her to bring peace back to his life. By his family for only being a child who would never have been able to tell the danger that was bound to take them no matter how hard they fought. By Boyd and Erica who would have been proud of the werewolf their Alpha was now going to be able to become. Then again by himself, a much younger side of himself that he'd lost sight of over the course of the last seven years, pushed away because he couldn't show weakness, and he had always seen himself as such when he was still that young.

As he poured the pool of tears he had into Stiles shirt he just kept holding tight to Stiles who simply remained sturdy and firm, a rock in the chaos. By the time he could muster the strength to pull back and meet Stiles' eyes his own where puffy and red, just like the day they had been the night of the fire. Stiles just reached up and brushed his thumbs under his lover's eyes, drying his cheeks with the sleeve of his hoodie, never once breaking eye contact.

"I love you." he croaked out as he buried his face in Stiles' neck, arms perhaps tighter than they should have been but Stiles suffered the discomfort for the sake of his mate.

"I love you too Derek, but please, don't let the past hold you, or any of us back okay?" Stiles said softly as he kissed Derek's neck gently in an assuring manner. "Now let's get that unruly pack of eavesdroppers in here. Yeah that's right I know you guys are pressing your ears to the door!" Stiles called out toward the metal sliding sheet that served as the barrier of the loft.

Derek smirked as he saw the guilty faces of Scott, Cora, Al and Aiden coming through; it seemed out of all of them it was only Lydia who hadn't tried to overhear what was said, Stiles knew better however and stared hard at her. She finally let out a miserable groan and threw her hands into the air. "Okay so I couldn't hear anything, alright? I don't have super hearing damnit." she proclaimed as she moved back over to join the couple in the sitting area joined by the rest of the evening's company.

"So just curious, how could you tell that we were at the door?" Al asked as be moved over and plopped down looking skeptically at the teenager.

"I read Derek's body language, when he didn't relax like I wanted him to I figured you guys must have been standing outside still. I swear though, if any of you hassle him about anything that any of you have just heard I will personally force feed you fresh wolfsbane, except you Lydia, you I'll just shave bald in the dead of the night." Stiles threatened. Lydia simply gave Stiles one of her 'I'd like to see you try' looks as Aiden took her hand and she smiled. "Oh keep the guard dog down, you know that's cheating." Stiles grumbled as he held his arms straight at his sides.

"You'd never shave me bald anyway, you like my hair too much." Lydia said as she sat up straighter in her seat. Stiles mouthed something unintelligible before grumbling about banshees and always hitting below the belt.

"Okay, let me put it this way, anyone who messes with my brother other than me gets smacked." Cora said flatly as she looked at Lydia, the strawberry blonde took the threat at face value, and even Aiden had to reconsider if he wanted to get in the way of an angry Cora Hale.

"I think we get the picture, no poking at Derek's insecurities." Scott said trying to defuse the situation as quickly as possible, reaching over and taking Cora's hand before she started to let her claws out. Cora looked over, still a bit surly but relaxed her own fair amount before leaning into the Alpha.

Lydia looked at the pair with a perplexed expression on her face before looking to Aiden who simply shrugged. "So I take it you're moving on then?" Lydia asked looking over to Scott who hazarded a kiss to the top of Cora's head which seemed to soothe her further.

"Um, well if Allison can I can too right?" Scott asked as he felt his cheeks flush a little Cora squeezing his hand a bit too firmly. "Ow, okay yes, yes I'm moving on." Scott said, most of the room chuckling at the obvious fact that Cora was not letting him fall back any.

Álmos got up at that point, it was getting later in the evening and there was little left for them to do other than rest up for the day to come. "Well everyone, as much as I'd love a slumber party I'm afraid we're short a few beds however and I hardly think Ms. Martin here would lower herself to sleep on a bean bag." Álmos said with a smirk, earning an amused hair flick from the female in question.

"We should be heading over to the penthouse anyway, that's where I told my mother I'd be, and the furnishings are a bit more numerous." Lydia said as she made her way to the door with Aiden in tow.

"I'm sure the risk of being walked in is low as well." Stiles murmured under his breath, it was still enough for Aiden to turn around and glare at him. "Hey you can't tell me that's not convenient, the only way I'd be able to pull that off would be if I was a master of like super ninja stealth sex." Stiles said raising his hands in surrender earning more than a fair share of laughs from some of the people in the room, a blush from Aiden and an eye roll from his mother.

"The list of things I wish I _hadn't_ heard come out of your mouth grows every day." Claudia said as she flitted into the room.

"Sorry mom, though from what you've said already you hear everything anyway right?" Stiles asked suddenly very concerned about just how much his mother could here.

"I can, but some things I can choose not to listen to, and believe me, there have been plenty of times for that." Claudia said raising a hand to her forehead. "Oh so many times." she groaned before sitting effortlessly in the air. This got almost as much laughter as before with now Stiles and Derek being the awkward couple. They'd only done it once so from what Derek could deduce Stiles wasn't the most quiet when it came to solo exploration.

"Right, so, awkward topics out of the way, I should head home and be sure that dad hasn't somehow managed to eat himself into a coma." Stiles said as he got up, looking down to Derek. "You think about rebuilding babe, we can talk more tomorrow." Stiles added leaving a parting kiss on his lips. "Scott, you want a ride?" he asked before realizing he hadn't driven here. "Right, no jeep. Um…you didn't use your bike to get here, not that there's room for two."

"Oh for Christ's sake, I drove here I'll drop you both off." Lydia said with an exaggerated sigh. Stiles nodded his head awkwardly and Scott thanked Lydia for the offer but said he'd walk, it was a good night and there were few until the full moon, about seven to be precise.

The ride out to John and Stiles had been quiet, Stiles feeling like that awkward third wheel in the back seat of Lydia's car, and admittedly he was, though at the same time he figured that it was better this way, otherwise the pair would have spent the night in the car doing things he didn't even want to imagine.

By the time they pulled up the awkward levels in the car had finally died down and they both gave Stiles a warm farewell. He smiled and waved his hand around in a circular motion, focusing on the materials scattered around the house and forming layer upon layer of protection around his home. His father's cruiser was in the driveway for which he was thankful as he headed inside he could hear the TV on, some sort of old action film playing, probably one of the overplayed ones on one of the stations Stiles frequently just skipped over. He moved around and plopped down next to his father and looked over at him.

"Hey pops." he said with a small grin on his face, aside from the fight and the admittedly horrifying events earlier in the day it had been good, he'd shown that he could now hold his own in a fight, and he'd been there for Derek and started him on the path to truly healing.

"So what's this about you skipping out on your class?" John asked still looking at the screen, he sounded tired, likely still trying to recover from work the past week.

"Ah, yes, about that, it was an emergency." Stiles said as he looked at the screen as well, trying to avoid his father's disappointed appearance.

"How bad was the emergency?" John asked as he turned the TV off and looked over to his son.

"If I hadn't left when I did Cora, Derek and Al would all likely be dead." Stiles said, not pulling any punches. "Peter's been possessed." Stiles added as he kept looking at the screen. He'd honestly been hoping to avoid talking about this with his father; he was hoping to keep the evening positive.

"And you, what, scared him off?" John asked as he looked at his son looking for some sort of injury, relieved when he couldn't detect anything.

"Actually…I turned into a stag and gored him." Stiles said as he ran his hands down his legs his hand grabbing onto his knees a little as he pulled himself into a sitting position instead of a lounging one. "Sometimes I hate it when that gypsy wolf is right."

"A stag? You mean you turned into a deer?" John asked as he looked at his son, disbelief on his features, then again the last time he'd doubted his son he'd regretted it so he gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"You can call Scott, Aiden, Isaac, even Ethan; they can all vouch for me." Stiles said as he shrugged. "All I remember is charging through the woods behind the school, shifting on my way there and then goring Peter's possessed body, throwing it, and then pinning him to the walls by his shoulders. He pushed me back but it was hard for him to do." Stiles replied with a shrug. "Must say it was pretty cool." the teen added with a happy sigh.

"So you and Derek really are a good couple then." John said with a sigh, getting a perplexed expression from his son. "Something Al mentioned about that god you were researching, something about the wolf and stag representing balance and harmony or something like that. It's pretty clear he's the wolf in this relationship, just make sure you don't go turning into a deer unless you're somewhere safe, it's hunting season, I don't want to have to explain why a hunter found the body of a teenager when he knows for damn sure he shot a buck." John replied as he looked at his son with a concerned expression.

"Actually Cora brought up a good idea." Stiles said which caught John's attention. "She suggested trying to rebuild the old Hale house, it would be near the preserve where hunting is banned so I'd be able to shift, they could shift, it could be a shift-a-palooza out there." Stiles said waving his hands about. But mostly it would be a safe place for everyone and might actually help Derek get over some of his deeper issues. I started with that tonight; I just hope it managed to sink in." Stiles added looking down toward his feet.

"What did you do exactly?" John asked wondering what is anything his son could have done to help Derek get over what he was sure were some very deep seated issues.

"Well I verbally smacked some sense into him, finally sat him down and gave him no other choice but to listen for once. I made him stop blaming himself for what happened to his family." Stiles said as he looked over to his father. "He's been living with that for seven years, I couldn't deal with him still suffering from it." Stiles added quietly as he saw his father's expression soften a bit. "What?" Stiles asked looking at his father.

"Sometimes I forget just how much like your mother you can be." John replied as he got up, pulled his son to his feet and hugged him. "You're just as selfless as she was and I don't think I ever tell you just how proud of you I am about that. You're a great kid Stiles." John added as he held his son like that.

Hearing those words coming from his father caused Stiles to choke up a bit in turn and he wrapped his own arms around the sheriff. "Thank you dad, that really means a lot to me." Stiles replied as he slowly rode out the embrace until it broke. "Well, it's been a loooong night, time for me to crash dad, you should get some sleep too." He added with a soft smile to his dad.

"I'm on my way sport, don't worry about it." John replied as he chuckled. "Just going to lock up and make sure there's nothing hovering around here." he added.

"Oh don't worry about anything inside the circle, I'm pretty sure mom will scare it away when she makes her way over here tonight, oh, by the way, she's not happy with you by the way." Stiles said as he headed for the stairs.

"Wait, what? What did I do?" John asked trying to act innocent, it was good that Stiles' father wasn't as skilled at deceit as him Stiles could read him like a book.

"She knows you've been cheating on your diet." Stiles said as he got to the top of the stairs. "Have fun dealing with her when she gets here." Stiles added as he shut the door to his room and got ready to sleep.

"Shit." was all John could say in reply as he waited for the spirit of his wife to show up, wondering if without having some sort of supernatural spark of his own if he'd even be able to see her like the rest of them could. The answer became clear as a rather displeased cough came from behind him.

"Well I certainly know where our son gets his mouth." Claudia said as John turned around to look at the ghost of his wife, face dropping into a mix of longing, sorrow and happiness.


	27. Stop Hitting Yourself

As Claudia and John duked it out with words downstairs Stiles was in his room, trying to get comfortable in bed but finding it difficult to do for some reason tonight. The encounter with Peter had been one thing, but the thought that Matt, psycho revenge driven, tried to kill him, Scott, Derek…well pretty much everyone, that had seriously gotten his attention. Stiles figured István had been looking for big players around here that could actually pack a punch, he'd failed with Victoria, she still had that same fire she had in life, that overwhelming drive to protect her daughter. But with Matt…he could cause some serious damage if they couldn't get him removed from the equation. Any student, any teacher, hell any bus driver could be at risk if Matt somehow pulled them on like a suit, something Stiles wouldn't dare put passed the vindictive bastard.

He was up looking out his window, staring at the trees outside, the stars glinting in the sky and wrapping his arms around himself a little. October had definitely made itself known as he looked at the still shedding trees, fully expecting to see nothing but skeletons by the time Thanksgiving rolled around. As he looked toward the ground he saw someone moving toward the house, smiling a bit as he looked down to see his boyfriend knocking at the barrier around his home. The druid…correction, High Priest-in-training, waved his hand gently making a path for Derek to cross before closing it behind him and watching as he scaled the side of the house and through Stiles window.

"You couldn't sleep either I see." Stiles said as he wrapped his arms around Derek, happy to be able to wrap them around someone other than himself at the moment. "Now forgive me, but I need to do something for a moment." Stiles said as he tightened his grip on his boyfriend and let his senses pour over him, trying to see if there was anything that had tried to latch onto him, finding nothing he eased up a little.

"Checking for hitchhikers?" Derek asked with a smirk as he nuzzled Stiles' neck before answering his prior inquiry. "No, not really," Derek said with a tired sigh as be backed up enough to look at his mate "doesn't help that your anxiety was bleeding through to me either." Derek added as he bumped their noses together. "I'm going to assume it has something to do with Matt being back?" Derek asked as he looked over at his mate. Stiles simply nodded in reply, resting his head against Derek's chest, taking in a deep breath of the soothing scent that was his boyfriend. "I understand that guy would go to any lengths to get back at everyone, but he'll likely go after Gerard first, since he's the one who killed him." Derek said as he sighed and held Stiles close.

Stiles head whipped back just a little bit. "Wait, how do you know that…did you see it?" Stiles asked as he pushed a few inches away from Derek staring straight into his eyes. "Spill sourwolf or I'm going to start rubbing your belly again until your leg is twitching." Stiles warned as he moved his hands a bit lower.

"No, if you can't remember we were kinda paralyzed at the time, remember? Peter told me he saw Gerard holding him down in that stream until he died." Derek said, trying to calm Stiles down, having heard the hiking in his lover's heart rate. "Also it explains why Gerard got control over the Kanima after Matt died; it saw Gerard as the stronger master." Derek added as he slowly loosened his hold on Stiles.

"More like stronger monster, but I can understand what you mean." Stiles said as he moved back over to his bed and sat down, pulling Derek over with him. "Regardless, I don't want him getting near any of us; he's probably one of the few ghosts around here capable of real damage. He knows how to get at Scott, at me, Allison, even Isaac. As pessimistic as I'm sure this is going to come out none of us are really going to be safe on this one. Hell even Lydia and Chris would be in danger." Stiles added as he just let himself drop back and sigh in irritation. "Also as for the scan, can't blame me for being too careful." Stiles replied with a shrug.

"I understand Stiles. As for Matt, he makes the perfect smokescreen." Derek said as he joined his boyfriend, laying on his back beside him much like they had the night at the station when they had both been paralyzed. "He can cause all the chaos István needs, can do the damage he can't while he comes after me and the rest of the Hale pack."

"He's not going to stop there Derek, you know that, he'll go after Scott and the others too. Here I was thinking that we'd only have the one threat to our safety and now I have someone who has absolutely zero regard for anyone else in the world who will literally kill everyone he can just to get at us." Stiles said as he turned to drape a hand over Derek's torso.

"We'll find some way to keep him busy, something has to realize the threat he is." Derek said before sitting bolt upright and shivering terribly, Stiles was right with him, it almost felt like his window had been opened and it was suddenly the dead of winter in his room.

"Someone indeed." came a voice from the corner of his room, as Stiles and Derek looked over they spotted a female with raven-black hair, her pale skin in stark contrast to it. Her outfit almost seemed to be made of feathers, and on closer inspection that seemed indeed to be the case.

"Um…how exactly did you get into my room?" Stiles asked as he turned to face the pale figure in the corner just as his mother's form came bursting in and looking directly at the invasive personage occupying the corner of his bedroom, almost looking like she was five seconds from dying, again.

"Stiles? What is the Morrigan doing in your bedroom and why is no one dead in here?" she asked as she moved over to his side.

"Hate to say it mom, but someone is dead here." Stiles said motioning to her. "Also I didn't get that far, but thank you for introducing her." he added as the figure moved forward from the corner. "Hold on there, I asked a question I wouldn't mind having it answered please, how did you get into my room? Hell how did you get into my house?" Stiles asked as he stared straight at the very solid figure that was stepping forward.

"Claudia this is simply a business call, no need to get upset, I'm not here to collect least of all your son and his lover. No, I am here because I've had my list suddenly triple in size and I can't say I'm totally happy with the idea of having a sudden flood of souls coming to me." the Morrigan said as she shook her head. "I was having enough trouble with the mass sacrifice that maniac Darach was making I can't deal with a wave the likes of which I just ended up being handed last night." she said putting the luminous spirit at a slight sense of ease. "As for you Stiles, your wards and your circles might work against spirits and nasty creatures, but sweetheart, I'm a goddess, you could have a mile thick wall of rowans and willows and you still couldn't keep me away." she said locking her ice cold blue eyes on him. She was stunningly beautiful, in the way winter can be beautiful, the brilliant white of snow glistening in the sun, however Stiles had no doubt that beauty was still just as deadly.

Derek meanwhile had immediately wrapped an arm around Stiles and switched them around, placing himself between his mate and the goddess in question. "What kind of business do you have with my mate?" Derek asked, his face serious, and despite the fact that at least two of the people in the room realized she could kill them with a thought he showed no fear.

The Morrigan actually looked fondly down toward Derek, as though glad to see that he was so keen on the defense of his mate. "Nothing that you need to worry about, I do apologize for the frigid entry, but death isn't one for warmth and comfort." the dark clad figure said. "Like I said, I have a list that I would very much like to shrink, too many souls at once, souls I have yet to collect, and souls I'd rather not _have_ to collect. The reason I'm here is that I believe you may know who it is that may be making this list increase." she added as she pulled out a sheaf of parchment with well over a dozen names scrawled over it, and ever increasing. "Oh really this is ridiculous!" the Morrigan cried out in frustration.

"Two people, one of whom I intend to be asking for help with to get rid of, the other is someone who died much more recently and who has a personal vendetta against…well, the entire world." Stiles said as he waved his arms around him for emphasis.

"Name him and I could clear up this latter figure's mess with a snap of my fingers." the Morrigan said as she held her hand up in the air poised to strike the person down.

"Not so easy to do my lady." Claudia said as she moved over and sat at the foot of her son's bed, the goddess merely looked at her with a look of shock and disbelief.

"I am and goddess Claudia, I think I know what I can and cannot do." the raven-haired figure said still poised to snap her fingers.

"And can you override the action of a dark spirit who has raised other dark spirits that have effectively torn themselves away from your power? Morrigan, if it had been that simple I would have suggested that to him myself once he figured out he was a High Priest to be. No, this will have to be done by someone who can alter the entire cycle; we need someone who can reach into the entire cycle, not just half of it." Claudia said bracing he hands behind her as she looked at the ever growing annoyance spreading over the goddess' face.

"So we're dealing with a ghost that can perform necromancy, lovely." the goddess groaned as she screeched, causing John to burst into the room wondering why there was a screaming woman in Stiles' room.

"Um…I, I'm going to go back to my room and forget anything was going on in here." John said as he saw the feather clad female.

"Good mortal, go lay down, you have enough to deal with around here." Morrigan said as she waved him off, only to get a very confused look from him, he just threw his hands in the air and kept moving muttering something about how he wished he could take his vacation time and take a trip to Mexico and get some much needed rest and relaxation. "Good man, but so far out of his element with all of this." the goddess said with a gentle sigh. "But could I get a name, at the very least I can run some interference, no doubt you've met Vivian, lovely woman, but not as useful in the capacity she's in right now, I could place several of her kind about to pen this ghost in. With his name I can keep tabs on him, follow him, and make sure he does as minimal damage as can be done." she said turning her focus back to Stiles.

"Good luck." Stiles said only to get a glare from the goddess. "Just saying he was able to get the better of me, Derek, my best friend Scott, Isaac, my dad, I mean pretty much everyone here. He's not an idiot; in fact I wouldn't be shocked if he already figured someone might try something like this." Stiles said from where he was sitting, his face set in a focused expression, something that wasn't always that easy for him.

"Then what pray tell, in your infinite wisdom do you think would be our best course of action?" Morrigan replied tapping her leather soled toe against the floor. "Do we just play along until he snatches someone and kills them off?" she inquired incredulously.

Stiles eyes got a strange glimpse at that point and he smirked. "I have a question, can a fae become possessed?" Stiles asked turning to Morrigan.

"Why do I get a feeling I'm going to regret answering this? Yes, they can, but only if they feel like it, they can allow themselves to be possessed but they still maintain control over themselves, in a way it allows them to experience something else for a limited time aside from what it is they represent. Why, what are you planning?" Morrigan asked.

Stiles got a twisted smirk that dominated the lower half of his face, it made Derek's stomach knot up, he was now legitimately terrified of his mate and what could possibly be whirring in his head. His mother simply raised a hand to her face knowing full well what that smirk meant.

"Son, you have your Grinch face on right now, what terrible horrible idea have you hatched now?" Claudia asked as she eyed her son, knowing she likely already knew what he was thinking.

"We play his game, he wants to take someone over, and we make him think he has, it will also make István think he has an advantage." Stiles says with a sigh as he lays back down on his bed, still smiling.

"I actually have another question before we get much further…Morrigan, why did you randomly show up here?" Claudia asked still not sure what prompted her to choose this spot out of all of them.

"I smelled stag, thought Cernunnos was here, as it would seem it was your son." the goddess replied with a feathered shrug. "I thought he would have answers for me." she added with a wilting sigh. "Alright I like the plan but in order to handle containing a spirit like that we're going to need to ask a winter fae to work with us, and even then I can't guarantee the safety of the people in the town. "Winter fae aren't exactly known for their compassionate sides."

"Get one from the House of Frost." Claudia suggested as she regarded the goddess in the room, the figure looking over with a contemplative expression. "They focus on the beauty of the season, of all the Houses they'd be the least likely to lash out at the area, also they'll be arriving soon enough anyway, it's mid-October." Claudia added.

Morrigan closed her eyes and she pondered over the suggestion, it seemed a sound idea, and the Frost fae had a knack for their playful nature she figured they would have little trouble manipulating a simple spirit. "Done, I always did forget that your knowledge of the inner workings of the fae was extensive. You may wish to pass down some of that knowledge to your son; it may pay off for him in the long run." Morrigan said before fading into the shadows of the room, leaving an unpleasant chill to the room that Derek remedied by wrapping his arms around his mate, holding him safe and warm.

Stiles looked at the corner of his room and then back to his mother. "So um, fae courts, fae houses…fae, fae, fae. You probably should tell me what the hell is going on because I'm pretty sure I'm losing my mind at this point. Was that really a goddess? What would a goddess be doing in my room?" Stiles said, his questions not ending there.

The evening ended with Claudia promising to tell Stiles more after the issue they were dealing with now was taken care of and they didn't have to worry about homicidal spirits. That seemed enough to put Stiles at ease for the moment, and the fact that they were getting divine intervention to help with Daehler was a relief as well, he still expected a few deaths tomorrow, and hated himself for being so powerless to stop it, but realized that because of that fact he couldn't keep beating himself off. Derek had made to leave and return to the loft but Stiles had convinced him to stay, feeling that a night together would be good after the things that had been happening lately, and also to make sure he wouldn't be heading back alone and risk contamination again.

"István?" Matt called out as he passed into Peter's apartment, looking around for the figure that had raised him from the grave.

"Ah yes, Mr. Daehler, so good to see you." István said through Peter's vocal cords again, the dual tone sounding strange to say the least. Matt simply smiled at him and moved over. "I take it you enjoyed your first kill? How does your power feel to you?" István asked as he reached out and rested a cold hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It felt great." Matt replied with a pleased sigh and a smile as his eyes shut. "I can't wait to get my hands on those idiots who left me to die, McCall, Argent, all of them, if killing someone who means nothing to me feels like this; then killing one of them is going to feel incredible." Matt said hungrily as his eyes darkened.

"Mmmm, excellent, a hungry spirit is a powerful one, you won't hesitate when you see and opening. In your case I want you to stay close to one person in particular." István said as he motioned for Matt to join him on the couch.

"Who? Please tell me it's Stilinski, I want him to die first." Matt said as memories flooded back with how that one had been onto him from the beginning of his plot when he was still alive.

"Patience, you can have your fun with him in time, for now, go after the man he loves, Derek Hale." István said as Peter's form was forced into no doubt a painful smile.

"So Stilinski does bat for the other team, I thought as much." Daehler said as he heard that Stiles was in fact with a dude. "As for the other, I'd be glad to kill him, he got in my way before, and if I kill him, Stilinski might do me a favor and off himself." Matt added as his face took on a sadistic expression.

"A strigoi after my own heart, it chills the tattered pieces of my soul to see someone with as much venom in them as me." István said as he clapped his hand on Matt's back before moving over toward Peter's bedroom. "Well I'm going to go lay down for the first time in over fifty years. Have fun before the sun rises, and feed on as much fear and misery as you can stomach." István added sending his newest pawn out to sow all the chaos he could.

As István laid down he let some of his control slip, knowing that while he was in Peter couldn't wrest the control away from him while he rested. But it would allow him to speak at the very least, and speak he did.

"You realize just how volatile that kid is right? He's likely to try to kill you just as much as anything else, he's like a rabid dog and you just let him loose on an entire town that's defenseless against him." Peter said as he griped in the cold prison that was his body.

"You say that like I should show compassion or care for the living. What living person ever cared about me? Hmm?" István inquires as he rests his spirit inside the shell of Peter's body.

"Your lover, the mother of your son, she likely did before you murdered her." Peter said, regretting it as he felt that deathly grasp on his soul.

"You do not mention that whore; you do _n_otbring up the slut who bore that abomination." István says with such complete wrath.

"You're the one who made her a whore, and you're the dumbass who knocked her up." Peter said as he strained his will against István's just a bit more.

István then shoved Peter's soul back to where he couldn't hear it, blocking it in to where Peter would remain for now until István could find a fitting punishment. Like by perhaps wringing the neck of that lovely summer fae at the school, that would work, sure Peter would get burned, but it would be worth it. The ideas abounded and he loved every last one.

Peter however was back in his isolation chamber within his own mind actually a bit glad, it may be cramped but it gave him a place to think, plan, and hopefully outthink the spirit possessing him. It was clear that subtlety wasn't his forte, he was going to do anything and everything in his power to get what he wanted, at this point he was just waiting for the spirals to show up around town marking what would no doubt be a war over this town, and all because someone who was dead wanted to come back.

"Well Peter let's see here, you have a sociopathic ghost occupying your body, one that's even more power hungry than you are…how do you manage to get him to vacate your body and leave your family alone?" he asked himself. "Death was one thing, this is worse…I wasn't even in hell yet and already this is ten times worse than I expected." He kept rambling to himself. "So how do I get my body back?" he asked himself further, turning his vision to himself, looking for any holes in István's own defenses, looking at his insecurities, and numerous as they were he was filling those gaps with his arrogance, rage, and desperation, though not powerful defenses they were enough to hold Peter in. The only thing he had that he could even hazard to try was to pull on whatever fragile tether he had to his pack, some primal plea for help. It's a risk, but as István's focus wanes again and he tries to rest once more he takes it, tugging with all his might, coupled with all his subtlety as he prays it will be enough for them to figure things out.

In the middle of the night Derek sits bolt upright, a sharp pain somewhere in his chest as he looks about the room, Stiles stirring beside him as he reaches over to look with concern at him. "What's wrong babe?" Stiles asked groggily as he reaches out and takes one of his hands in his own.

"I thought I felt something, it…it was like when the fire happened, I could feel a sudden tug back to the house, a gut feeling that they were in trouble. It…it felt like Peter all over again." Derek said, his voice a bit hoarse as he balled up a bit, bringing his knees up and wrapping his arms around them. Stiles could see what was happening and he immediately moved in behind Derek and wrapped his arms around to hold Derek's own, his chin resting on his shoulder as he tried to keep Derek calm.

"He probably is calling for help, being possessed by someone crazier than he is probably isn't exactly the nicest experience." Stiles said trying to keep things upbeat.

Derek tried to smirk but couldn't, he was feeling like he was failing again, like with the fire, like that if he could have gotten through to Peter before he jumped ship on them and apparently teamed up with István he could still have more of his family. Stiles couldn't tell that much, but he could feel the unmistakable feeling of self-loathing beginning to worm its way into his lover's system. This was something that he was definitely not allowing to happen. He slowly turned Derek around and pulled his arms down to let his legs go, lifting his chin to force him to look at him.

"Listen to me Derek, if your uncle isn't just luring us into a trap, if he is _genuinely_ begging for help then we're going to drive the son of a bitch out of your uncle and we're not going to let him out of our sights okay?" Stiles asked gently running his hand across the side of his face. "Don't blame yourself on any of this okay? It was Peter's choice to yet again make a stupid decision; you couldn't have stopped him, especially once you lost your Alpha status. So please take it easy on yourself okay Derek?" Stiles said softly as he laid a gentle kiss on the stubble covered cheek of his lover.

Derek just shifted himself until his arms were around Stiles again, holding him close and his face pressed into the crook of his neck. "I love you Stiles." Derek practically whispered into his mate's neck.

Stiles melted a bit at hearing those words holding Derek just a bit more firmly. "I love you too sourwolf." he whispered back before they went back to bed.


	28. Jay Frost? Any Relation to Jack?

Stiles woke up the next morning to the incessant nudging of Derek's hand urging him to get out of bed and ready for the last day of classes for the week, earning little more than a petulant groan from the teen. Stiles grudgingly moved over and turned around to look at his boyfriend with as surly an expression as he could muster.

"You're evil." Stiles mumbled as he looked at the smirking face of the werewolf he was sharing his bed with.

"And yet you still love me." Derek responded with a shrug, smirk simply growing before being obscured as Stiles swung his pillow into the chiseled features of his face. Stiles regretted doing so as he found himself landing on his back as Derek pinned him to the bed.

"As much as I like how perky you are and the position we're in I'm pretty certain I have school to get ready for." Stiles groaned as he threw his head back.

"You're right you do, now let's get you ready." Derek responded, leaning down and kissing Stiles gently before slowly easing off of him and pulling him up, walking them both to the bathroom. "Shower, then food, I'll see you downstairs love." Derek said as he gave Stiles one more brief kiss before heading downstairs.

Stiles wasn't entirely sure why Derek was as perky as he was today, especially since they both hadn't managed to get a full night's sleep. He had to assume that Derek had simply enjoyed being able to sleep and be close to him after what had happened earlier that day. It was the only remotely logical conclusion his sleep riddled brain could arrive at, and admittedly, it was the only one Derek's could arrive at too. Derek had managed to sleep deeper than he had in ages and kept sleeping better every night Stiles and he were able to spend together, as though simply by being with him allowed him the peace he'd lost long ago. He still had a long way to go, but Stiles was already keeping up his word, the damage was mending, especially after today when Stiles had literally reached into him and healed the damage István had caused.

While Stiles was in the shower his boyfriend was downstairs, topless, and cooking a nice breakfast for them both, and inevitably his father when he got up as well. He figured after having the house literally being visited by death they could use something to take their minds off it. When Stiles came down all dressed and with his hair styled he served things up, doing the same for John when he came down in a pair of plaid flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, rubbing his face as he took a seat at the table, thanking Derek for the food and the cup of coffee and brought over to accompany it. Derek joined in on the meal once he'd settled the two Stilinski men in on their own meals.

"So last night, that woman in Stiles room, do I want to know? Or is this one of those situations where I'm better off not knowing?" John asked once he'd gotten at least half way through his breakfast.

"The latter, unless you want to learn more about the supernatural than you already do, or unless you want to know too much, or if you…" Stiles began to say before John raised his hand to silence him.

"Alright, I've got it, too much information no need to overload the old man." the sheriff replied as he took another sip from his coffee. "Just promise me that whatever it is she wanted that it's not going to get you all killed." John said.

"I can't make that promise, in fact that's kinda impossible." Stiles replied as he finished up his plate and went to wash it.

"Why is this?" John asked, realizing he'd likely regret it if he got a solid answer from his son.

"Well dad, she's kinda the goddess of death, eventually she's going to want to get everyone to die, kinda how she works." Stiles said as he faced away from his father.

John looked blankly at his son; it had been the single bluntest and morbid thing he'd ever heard come out of his son's mouth and he hadn't seen it coming. "Goddess…of death. Death was literally in the house last night!?" John asked as he bolted out of his seat, heart threatening to start beating at unsafe levels. Stiles immediately rushed over and urged his father back into his seat, telling him to take deep breaths.

"It's complicated dad, she's not going to just poke us and we drop, she needs to wait for it to be natural, then she shows up and…you know what we really don't need to go over this. She's not going to kill any of us, she's not going to make any of us die unnaturally, we're all going to have nice long lives." Stiles said, speaking the last bit a bit louder and looking up at the ceiling as though expecting Morrigan to hear him.

John still looked a bit ashen from the initial shock but seemed to be getting some color back. "Yeah so long as none of us end up having a heart attack from hearing that death herself was in their son's room last night." John said as he leaned forward in his seat, Derek coming over to get his empty plate and taking it over to the sink to wash.

"Everything will be fine dad, just relax, she was actually showing up last night to help us save lives, not take them." Stiles replied getting a confused expression from John.

"So wait a second, she's trying to keep people from dying? How does that make sense?" John asked as he just stared at his son like he'd suddenly grown another head.

"Oh honestly what is so hard for you mortals to understand?" came a voice from an open window nearby, a raven sitting on the sill before hopping in and reshaping into Morrigan. "Is it that hard to believe that I _don't_ want a smaller workload? Do you have any idea how many souls I've been dealing with the last few years? And I thought the plagues were bad." she added tossing her head back.

"Holy fuck!" John shouted falling out of his seat and backing away from the woman. "Does nothing supernatural ever knock!? Jesus!" he added taking deep breaths.

Morrigan rolled her eyes and moved over to take a seat. "Could I get a cup of tea, with some honey please?" she asked looking over to Derek who went over to the stove to heat the water and get some of what he must have been sure was some very old tea that the pair had bought a few years ago. Morrigan thanked Derek once he brought it over to her before getting back down to things. "Anyway since I couldn't help but eavesdrop on your apparent discomfort pertaining to me allow me to make something clear. Life is sacred, to take a soul from this world is something that neither I nor any other deity truly enjoys so when we _can_ avoid it we do. In this case it's a supernatural cause, not a human cause; therefore I can take a bit more direct an action against it. Also you've never had to listen to a bunch of annoyed and cranky ghosts non-stop for centuries on end, it gets to be quite aggravating after a while." the goddess added and she sipped at the tea. "Good gods, how old is this?" she asked looking over to Derek who simply shrugged, Morrigan doing the same with an audible sigh. "Well it's not the oldest thing I've had to drink, a twenty year old whiskey now that brings back some memories."

"So…you can't interfere if it's a human doing a mass killing, but you can if it's a ghost?" John asked as he slowly made his way off of the floor.

"Correct, you've never heard of mass murder via disembodied spirit now have you?" Morrigan asked as she stirred her tea a bit more, John conceding that fact to her. "Right, so your son will help me find the source of this trouble, I'll pen it in and then Cernunnos and the Hunt and rip them to tatters." Morrigan added with a curt nod before waving her hand over the cup and the strong scent of whiskey came from it. "Sorry, I mentioned it I couldn't hold back." she added with a smile before draining the cup in one smooth drag from her cup. Getting back gracefully from her seat she went back to the window. "Now relax all of you, I have absolutely no intention of coming after any of you until you're ready." Morrigan added before transforming the last sound she made a small hiccup as in raven form she flew off in a bit of a crooked flight path.

"Is she…" John began to ask before Stiles burst out laughing, a rather succinct method of answering the question his father didn't get to ask.

"I didn't even know a deity could get drunk." Stiles said as he moved over to where Derek had moved to trying to keep things from being too tense.

"Stiles, you're forgetting about every single Greek and Norse Deity that has ever existed." Derek said as he looked down at the teen whose arms were now wrapped delicately around him.

"Right, drunken parties with Dionysus and drunken fights with Thor, how could I forget?" Stiles said thumping his forehead against his boyfriend's well-built chest.

"Can we talk gods and goddesses at another time; I think I'm going to spend my day off at a spa at this rate before I have a heart attack." John said as he moved along and finishing his coffee. "You stay safe at school today, no rushing out of classes, Derek, feel free to stay here if you want to, you can call Al of Cora from here, I don't want you risking anything." John said as he clapped a hand on the werewolf's shoulder before heading off to his room.

"Thank you Sheriff." Derek said, still giving Stiles' father all the respect he was due, and not quite feeling comfortable calling him John quite yet. Let alone comfortable calling him what he was sure he'd end up calling him in the future.

John looked back and smirked a bit at the formality in Derek's speech. '_Seems my son does have good taste after all."_ he thought before he left Stiles and Derek to get more comfortable in the kitchen.

"So, are you driving me to school today? Or am I going to be taking the jeep? Seriously I think the poor thing is starting to feel neglected." Stiles said as he looked out to see it sitting in the driveway, figuring his father had someone drive it back for him. That or Scott did, or someone who had a driver's license among the group he called his friends.

"I may just take your father up on his offer and stick around here today, might do me some good to have a day off from dealing with Cora." Derek said with a smirk.

"You realize she'll bust the door down if she needs to right?" Stiles asked as he slowly moved them to the door, slipping his shoes on and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Derek sighed and nodded in reply as he leaned down to give his mate a soft kiss before seeing him out the door.

"If she can get through the barrier you made, and babe, please listen to your dad and stay safe." Derek added as Stiles stepped off to head to the jeep and rush off to school.

"I will Derek, I promise." Stiles said as he leaned in and stole one more kiss before rushing off and heading to the last day of classes for the week, fully intending to make the most out of his weekend when he got back. He still owed Derek that backrub.

School was fairly typical that day, not much happening until sometime around lunch, Aiden and Ethan along with Scott and Isaac all seemed more on edge than usual, seemingly distracted by something but not able to pin it down. Stiles was actually slightly amused by all of this considering not long ago he was the one who seemed to be lacking in an attention span. Allison and Lydia as well as Danny all seemed to be just as perplexed however by their respective boyfriends' behavior throughout the day.

"Okay what has you three looking for invisible fairies?" Lydia asked as she finally had enough of feeling ignored and poked Aiden with her fork.

"That's just it; I don't think this one is invisible." Scott answered for Aiden, looking around. "I've smelled something off all day but I can't figure who it's coming from. It smells like…frost?" he said, more a question than a statement. "Almost like the freezer when you open it, that kinda cold, dry, snappy scent you get." he added trying to explain it to himself.

"That's not all though; there was something like wet ash too, like someone just dumped a bucket of water on a fire." Ethan added as he joined in, Scott nodding in agreement. "It's like it wants to be fire but can't be." he added his face twisted in confusing. "Okay I'm officially done trying to describe this thing." Ethan stated once he got funny looks from half the table.

"Sounds like a winter fae and the angry soul of someone who was drowned to me." Stiles heard being whispered into his ear. He turned around to see nothing, but he recognized the voice. Morrigan must have been communicating to him and as he looked to one of the nearby windows he saw a raven looking in through it, only to take off again once it saw someone approaching their table.

"Hello students." Came the warm and soothing voice of Vivian Lake as she strode over casually, though the glance she had directed at the window held a spark of discontent at having seen that raven. "I trust you are all doing well?" she asked as she moved around, everyone present easing out of the tension that had been building over the last few hours. "Stiles, how go your lessons with Alan?" she asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"They're going great, you know except for yesterday, had to skip, had an antler related problem." Stiles stated rubbing his forehead where he felt like he could still feel the nubs of where the antlers had once been.

"I see, and tell me, have you been dealing with anything else recently?" Vivian inquired gesturing very subtly at the window toward where the raven had been roosting not long ago.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, power hungry werewolf possessed by an even more power hungry werewolf, you know the usual." Stiles said quietly for just the table to hear.

"So the fact that Morrigan keeps paying you a visit isn't out of the ordinary?" Vivian asked knowing full well what Stiles was trying to cover up.

"No, should it be?" Stiles asked as he tried to turn his attention to his lunch, trying to eat some of his pizza in peace while Lydia gawked at him. "What!?" he asked putting his pizza down.

"You have the Celtic goddess of war and death visiting you?" Lydia asked causing everyone else' attention to snap over to Stiles who now wished he were anywhere other than here discussing this.

"Yeah, well I'm supposed to be some sort of High Priest right? So dealing with deities seems like something that I'd be set to do right?" Stiles asked in a hushed tone at the table.

Vivian nodded her head and Lydia just gave an apprehensive look as she returned to her smaller lunch in front of her. Aiden was gorging himself on whatever the school would give, dinner at Lydia's the other night was horrible, he still had no clue how anyone could live on eating so little. In general though an unpleasant silence fell on the table, one that caused Vivian's composure to falter slightly and that was causing Stiles to once again feel like he was the odd one out here.

"Alright, things here became a bit _too_ serious for my liking here, now come now, he has a very fair point, and it's not like she goes around killing people." Vivian said getting a few strange looks from the table.

"No, instead she waits like a vulture to take their souls away when someone inevitably _does_ die." Lydia retorted as he eyes locked onto Vivian's.

"To be honest dear, for someone so close to death as you I would think you'd like to take the opportunity to learn a bit more about yourself. Morrigan is the queen of the banshees dear, you'd do well to show her a bit more respect." Vivian said, her expression darkening a bit as she admonished Lydia for her apparent lapse of realization. It seemed to do its trick as well considering Lydia didn't say a single thing for the rest of the lunch period. "Stiles, you may want to inform our little black bird that you have someone she would like to meet." Vivian added before turning around to see someone staring at all of them. His eyes were a cold ice blue, his hair jet black and shoulder length, pale, and rather thin as well. "Sun's love." Vivian said closing her eyes and steadying herself as she swayed for a moment. "Also take care around the figure over in the corner there." she added to the group before making her exit from the room

As the table looked over the figure got up and left as well, holding his books close to his chest. The werewolves at the table all looked at one another and nodded, it seemed that they'd all come to the same conclusion, that had been the fae they'd smelled been trying to sniff out.

"Let me guess, winter court fae." Stiles said taking in Vivian's reaction to seeing him and the focused gaze of the werewolves as they followed the figure out the doorway with their eyes. All he received were four identical curt nods. "Good, seems Morrigan is keeping her word then." Stiles added as he finished up his lunch and put up his tray and unused utensils. Everyone just stared at him as he did so, not believing what they heard.

"What do you mean keeping her word?" Scott asked as the bell rang and the lot of them made their way out of the cafeteria.

"I mean she's keeping her word, she promised she wasn't out to kill anyone or get them killed, she's trying to help us. She said she'd send someone to deal with the whole psychotic former classmate issue." Stiles said causing Allison and Isaac to snap their attention to him.

"Wait a second, which former classmate?" Allison asked as she pulled Stiles to the side of the hall and practically pinned him to it.

"The smell of wet ash that Ethan was describing earlier. You remember? What person do we know who would end up being a pissed off spirit and died by drowning…twice?" Stiles asked looking firmly back at her. Allison immediately pulled away and backed away as though she half expected Matt Daehler to walk through a wall. "Lydia and Aiden came over to the loft yesterday while I was helping Derek and his family recover, she heard of a suicide, person drowned in a shallow stream." he stated.

"Just like Matt." Isaac said as the terrible realization set in moving to Allison's side and pulling her to his side, almost protectively.

"What's this about Matt?" Danny asked as he turned to look at the small cluster. "Let me guess, he was behind the shit with Jackson?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest. "Fucking doctored his video I should have known." he added angrily as he thought back to the video help his best friend had asked for the year prior.

"It gets worse than that but we're not going to go there. He's back, he's going to try possessing someone, just make sure it's not one of us." Stiles said as he looked everyone over. "Lydia you're safe because, well ghosts hate banshees. The rest of us, I'm not so sure." Stiles said placing his hands at his hips and looking at the ground.

"Well if it's considered an act of war to do so then I'm safe, Lono's season, he kinda enforces a period of peace." Danny said as he spoke up. "Found that out earlier, convenient as that was." Danny added taking Ethan's hand as the other smiled.

"See what did I tell you? He has some sort of crazy awesome Hawaiian magic working for him." Stiles said as he motioned at Danny getting some weird looks from passersby. Scott and the others simply chuckled at the sudden outburst. "What I told Lydia and the others that you must have had some sort of protection working for you." Stiles added trying to save face.

"He did." Lydia said with a sigh as she harkened back to that conversation. "Said that I'd be fine since the dead likely wouldn't hassle me since the dead don't care for people that are death callers." she added a bit tersely, as though not wanting to be reminded of that. "So effectively that brings it down to the hunter, the werewolves and the druid who are in trouble then." Lydia said as the group began to move again. "Druid makes wards; two of the werewolves are dating two people who can't be touched, so this would leave Scott, Allison and Isaac in trouble."

"Actually with my mom's ghost playing security guard I think me and Isaac are covered as well." Allison said as she took Isaac's hand looking briefly over at Scott before breaking eye contact. They still really hadn't talked anything out since this started and it was murder on them both. They were both healing to an extent, but there was still no closure, and now that Scott and Cora were getting cozy it was up in the air whether they ever would.

"Okay then awkward silence, go." Stiles said as the group came to the point where they had to scatter to their different classes. "Meet up after classes?" he asked afterward.

"Sounds good, the loft?" Scott asked the High Priest-in-trianing. Stiles nodded and everyone seemed to like the sound of that. The group dispersed after that going every which way, Stiles heading to his elective, why he'd chosen an art class was beyond him, and with his attention span his work ended up being rather slapdash. As he walked in he got a slight chill as he moved to sit down in his seat, not realizing that in front of him sat the same thin, pale, dark haired figure form the cafeteria.

"Hello Mr. Stilinski." Stiles heard coming from in front of him, the teen's voice was soft and smooth, but had a slight grind to it, almost like ice skates against a nice smooth rink. It was clean and the diction sharp.

"Um…hi…uh, sorry for not saying anything, attention span of a cocker spaniel sometimes." Stiles said as he pulled out a sketchbook and got ready to draw.

"Funny, you'd assume with the golden curls on your friend Isaac he'd be the one with more of a cocker spaniel personality." the young man said as he drew out his own materials for class and opened his sketchbook, delicate frost-like patterns across the pages. "My name is Jay by the way, pleasure to meet you, at least for now." the younger teen said before the final bell rang to begin class.


	29. Lack of Taste

The rest of the art class had gone by fairly well and without much issue except for the occasional cold chills that ran up Stiles' spine once in a while. Jay simply smirked a bit every time it happened, almost as though the young winter fae was toying with him, and truth be told he likely was based on the mischievous glint in his icy blue eyes. As the class ended he stuck relatively close to Stiles as they picked up a somewhat business-like conversation.

"So you're Morrigan's human contact?" Jay asked once they were in the crowd, the other students in the crowd too caught up in the sounds of the hall, their friends or themselves.

"So you're the winter fae she said she was going to send?" Stiles asked in return getting a smirk from the other teen. "So how do you intend to lure the guy in?" he added as they rounded a corner.

"Well let's see, I'm a loner, I'm artistic, and I have a vindictive streak like you wouldn't believe." Jay responded bluntly as they began making their way to Stiles Economics class. "Or at least that's what he'll see, whether or not that is entirely accurate is up for debate." Jay added with a confidence that Stiles almost envied.

"So long as you don't play his game we should be okay. Not exactly sure what winter fae consider fun but I'd rather it not result in my friends being put through hell." Stiles said, his tone was serious but he tried to keep the conversation positive.

"Well there go my plans with the needles." Jay said with a sigh, cracking up as Stiles turned to look at him with wide and nearly petrified looking eyes. "Wow, you humans really don't have senses of humor do you?" Jay said before stopping just outside the door to the classroom. "Relax, my family is nothing more than artists, we don't deal in pain, we aren't a commune of sadists who like to tie people up and torture them. Once he latches on he's stuck, he'll be stuck there for a good long while." Jay said resting a hand on Stiles shoulder to ease him, only to see the teen tense up a little. "Right, winter's touch, not the most comforting of things." Jay added as he pulled his hand free.

"If by 'not the most comfortable' you mean feeling like someone just dropped an ice pack on my shoulder than yeah." Stiles said tugging on his shoulder again and massaging out the chill from it. "Any clue when it might happen? You know, Mr. Stalker Ghost coming in for a landing?" Stiles asked as he walked into the room and took a seat.

"Yeah, about five seconds ago Stilinski." came a voice through Jay's mouth that wasn't his own. "I'm really starting to hate you, oh so very much."

"It's nice hearing from you again too Matt." Stiles said facing forward as Finstock came in and made his way to the front of the class.

"I'd be better off inside of that guy than stuck in this son of a bitch." Matt said as Jay looked forward passively listening to Finstock begin his rant of a lesson.

"Don't know if you can remember Matt, but he's about the most inept person in this school." Stiles said as he smirked, feeling Matt's anger at his rising, yet knowing that Jay was keeping him well penned in.

"He could get you, Isaac, even Scott kicked off the team." Matt said hoarsely as Jay began to pull him back.

"Yes, give us more time to prepare since I wouldn't have to worry about games or practices anymore interrupting my research. Thank you for showing that you're still so painfully predictable, even when dead." Stiles whispered over his shoulder only to have Finstock walk over to him.

"Having a nice conversation with your boyfriend here Stilinski?" Finstock asked as he crossed his arms in front of himself.

"I wish coach, unfortunately he's not here." Stiles said in reply catching his teacher completely off guard, his mouth open in disbelief. "Oh come on coach is it really that big a shock? Come on." Stiles added rolling his eyes as several of the other people in the class turned to look at him Danny and Scott both fighting the urge to laugh as for once in his high school career Stiles had left their windbag of coach speechless.

Once Finstock had regained his composure he half glared down at Stiles and then went back to the front of the class to carry on his lecture. Once he was done and the bell rang signaling the end of the day they set off again, it was another practice day and so Scott, Isaac, Stiles, Danny and the twins moved their way to field followed by Jay.

"Didn't know you'd be joining the team Jay, or is this something you're doing for Matt's sake?" Stiles asked as he lagged back a little to speak with the other teen.

"Just because he's in prison doesn't mean he doesn't get recreational time. Besides, I need to be able to do something other than draw all day, just see if you can keep up." Jay said as they started laps, and though Stiles wanted to chalk it up to the cooling weather the slight bits of frost popping up on the field were definitely enough to know that Jay really did enjoy being outside. He also seemed to like sticking to the middle of the team as they ran around the field to warm up, keeping from appearing ambitious or apathetic. In other words, making an effort not to stand out and take too much notice from the coach or the other players, particularly those most likely to feel threatened.

Once it came time to split off into teams it was the same as last time, Scott, Aiden and Danny against Stiles, Isaac and Ethan. Though it seemed Finstock wanted to test out the skills of the new kid by throwing him into goal on Stiles' side of the field. Derek wasn't there today unfortunately to help root for Stiles however, but Stiles knew he would have been had circumstances been different. Lydia and Allison were up in the stands though along with Vivian and Morrell who both seemed to have their eyes trained on the goal on Stiles' side of the field. Jay merely raised his hand and waved at them before turning his eyes to the field as the ball was sent into play. In little time flat Scott and Aiden had rushed down the field with it and Scott as adept as he was still wasn't as fast on his reflexes, or as smooth as Jay made himself appear, with one fluid motion he'd not only caught the ball but sent it right into Ethan's net. Several of the other players just looked in shock at the flawless motion except for Danny who simply saw the opportunity to step up his game as his boyfriend came barreling down the field toward him along with Isaac. Scott tried rushing back only to have the ball zoom back over his head toward Aiden who had stayed behind. The game ended up becoming an amusing game of monkey in the middle with the werewolves running themselves ragged between the two goals. It eventually ended with Stiles scoring against Danny who by that time was just as tired if not more so than the werewolves.

"Right, so are all winter fae that good?" Stiles asked as they all headed back to the showers.

"That graceful? Yes. As for the skill most of that was Matt's, he never really did get the chance to let it shine through. Even after this mess is over I might let him stay with me for a while and have the life he didn't really get to have." Jay said almost sadly, his expression soft and remorseful.

Even Stiles had to admit if things had been different he would likely have done the same thing. "I can understand that, I'm not going to say I'm not glad he's gone, because let's face it, and if you're listening Matt understand me, please. He went off the deep end, and I don't mean that as some sort of really bad pun. If he hadn't tried to kill me, kill pretty much all of us, he would have probably fit in a hell of a lot better with us, we could have been there for him." Stiles said as they got changed.

"I can hear you, and you can shove it Stilinski." Matt said as he pushed through to snap at the hyperactive teen. Glaring at him with rage and pain filled eyes.

Scott and Isaac both rounded the row of lockers ready to step in if needed but Stiles just motioned for them to take a step back as he moved forward. "Listen Matt, you want to be pissed off at us, fine, go ahead and hate on us, but don't take it out on people who did absolutely nothing to you? You're lucky I didn't ask Morrigan to outright nix your ass." Stiles said locking eyes with those of their late classmate as they looked out from Jay's face. "Yeah, your life was fucked up, so was Isaac's, so was Derek's, so were Ethan and Aiden's, and okay yes the last two did kill people but that was because they were following bad orders." Stiles said as the locker room was beginning to empty, the twins in question rounding to join in on the conversation. "My point is that they didn't decide to make it their life's purpose to kill every single person who wronged them, hell my life hasn't been a bed of roses either lately but I'm making the best out of it that I can." Stiles added.

"Yeah I can imagine having the ability to ask for divine intervention can be a really rough life, and having people who genuinely give a shit about you, it must be such a terrible cross to bear." Matt said glaring hard back at Stiles. "You don't know a damn thing about how I feel."

"If you're talking about the being dead part, nope, been there too, so have Allison and Scott, yeah, it's terrifying, yeah no one should have to go through that. Yeah, they didn't take it seriously with you Matt, they were also stupid teenagers who were allowed to get trashed at a party, none of them were taking it seriously, and we all know that Isaac's dad was a complete douchebag. You wanna blame someone, blame…" Stiles began to say before getting cut off.

"Now, you wouldn't be speaking poorly of me now would you?" came an all too familiar voice to at least one of the people in the room, and as soon as Isaac heard it his blood ran ice cold and he froze in place. "You know Isaac; your friends really do need to learn some respect." Isaac's father's voice rang out as Finstock rounded the corner to look at them, but he definitely was not looking himself.

"I should have figured the coach would possess the coach. Listen Mr. Lahey I get that you have a lot of issues that you need to get through, but would you mind getting through them without possessing our Economics teacher, classes are bad enough with him as it is." Stiles said humorlessly as was possible.

"I didn't ask for your opinion now did I? Matt, István sent me to tell you that you aren't needed anymore." Lahey added as he made a step forward only to be launched back by a sudden and very cold blast of air. "The fuck!?" the spirit inhabited Finstock shouted as he got back up off the ground covered in a fine layer of frost.

"I'm sorry, were you expecting me to let you just attack me and not defend myself, you have quite the arrogance." Jay said as he shunted Matt's spirit back into wherever it was he was keeping it stored away. "The nerve of some ghosts I swear." Jay added rolling his eyes as he looked over to Finstock's still frosted form.

"The hell are you? Tell me right now!" Lahey shouted as he made forward again, likely intending to beat the answer out of the younger figure.

"Stiles, do you still have any of those shield knots drawn?" Isaac asked as he walked up beside the young High Priest.

"I think I know where you're going with this, make it a good one." Stiles said rifling through his back pack and handing one over, seeing the image transfer to Isaac's hand.

Isaac strode forward seeing his father's eyes staring right back at his own; it was definitely unexpected, suddenly seeing the boy who'd cowered in front of those same eyes for so long suddenly standing in front of them with rage and determination. "Isaac get out of my way or you'll get more of…" Lahey's voice began to say before being rudely interrupted by an uppercut right into Finstock's gut, sending the spirit of his father flying out his back and sending the coach falling unconscious to the floor.

"That wasn't polite Isaac." Lahey said as he advanced forward only to be hurled back into and through a set of lockers.

"Neither was locking me up in a fucking freezer every time I didn't meet up to your standards, neither was throwing glass at me and then saying it was my fault when I ended up getting cut or bruised. Neither was treating me like absolute shit just because Cam died!" Isaac roared out as he bore down on the shade of his father.

"You leave him the fuck out of this! He was the son I wanted, not you!" Isaac's father shouted back and it was as though a switch had been flipped in Isaac, his eyes drew to lines, his fangs bared and claws out.

"Mom died because of him, because of you." Isaac snarled out before tearing a wispy trail through his father's ghost causing it to recoil and pull further away. "Get the hell out of my sight dad, and don't you dare come anywhere near me or my friends again or I swear to god where you end up going you'll never even come close to seeing Cam again." Isaac added with no lack of venom in his tone. That seemed to do the trick because the look on his father's face could best be described as complete horror as he phased through the wall and out into the world beyond the school's walls.

Stiles slowly moved forward to the still visibly seething form of Isaac reaching out a hand only to have Isaac turn around and wrap his arms tightly around him. He wasn't sure what to do until he felt Isaac's body beginning to tremble in his arms and as he felt tears working their way onto his shirt. Stiles held Isaac in turn as the curly haired teen as he steadily broke down in his arms.

"Hey, Isaac, it's okay, he's not going to come back any time soon, it's going to be okay. You want me to be honest, that was two types of awesome back there, one you knocked Finstock out and heaven knows he's had that coming, and then you ripped your dad a new one, that had to have felt good right?" Stiles asked rubbing Isaac's back.

Isaac nodded with a heavy sigh as he pulled himself back together slowly loosening his grip on Stiles and backing up a little. He had a smile on his face but it was still laced with a sliver of pain and sorrow. "Yeah, it was more what he said though, that Cam was the son he wanted, not me. When my mom found out that died she got closer to me, I was the only son she had left, and then dad got worse, really bad and she ended up leaving one night, and she didn't come back. We only found out she was dead when a police officer came in from another town to tell us they'd found her car wrapped around a tree." Isaac said. "She couldn't handle having lost one son and her husband, and I was never quite enough, not that I could protect her back then. He wasn't hard on her too, 'you're babying him, you were never this good to Cam, he's going to end up weak and end up dead just like our first son'." Isaac began to say, filling the gathered pack around him. "He blamed her for Cam dying, I couldn't take it anymore." Isaac said as he went and grabbed the rest of his things and got ready to leave. "I consider his ghost being around a severe insult to my mother's memory, and I swear to god I'm going to send him to hell for the hell he put us both through." he added tersely his eyes flashing gold again.

"Listen Isaac, you don't need to go through it alone, you need us you let us know okay?" Scott asked as he moved forward to the beta he'd taken in from Derek's former pack. "I'm here for you, so is the rest of the pack." Scott said getting short nods from the twins. "I'm sure Derek and Stiles and everyone will help you too." Scott concluded before Isaac left the room. The curly topped teen just nodded his thanks and left, the event had been hard on him, they could all tell, but right now he needed comforting, and he knew where to go for that.

"Alright, so now that we know that István is indeed the biggest tool of them all I think it's time I read everyone in on my plans to deal with the bastard." Stiles said as the pack made their way out of the locker room and over to his place, they agreed seeing as since Derek had likely been there all day on his own they knew Stiles wouldn't want to leave him waiting any longer than was absolutely necessary for him to get back home.

True to form Derek was waiting patiently in the living room; book in hand and the television set to one of those classical music channels. As Stiles came in with everyone else he got up and made his way over, pulling Stiles into a soft kiss. "Well while you were off at school your mother and I had more time to talk about you…so many embarrassing stories." Derek said with a playful smirk before he slowly pulled away to look at the others now filing into the house.

"That's okay babe, I'll just get some on you from Cora, I guarantee she'd be glad to give me dirt on you." Stiles replied as he took the wind right out of his boyfriend's sails. "Hope you don't mind I wanted these guys to be aware of what I had planned for next week." Stiles added as he walked hand in hand into the kitchen.

Derek nodded as everyone passed through until he spotted Jay who froze in place as the former alpha locked eyes with him. Derek's eyes flashed blue for a brief moment as though in warning and Jay nodded a silent understanding as he joined the others.

"Okay, so what is this grand plan of yours?" Jay inquired once he passed by the silent sentinel that was Derek Hale.

"I'm going to call the Wild Hunt on István and whatever sort of bizarre army of the dead he decides to raise to defend him." Stiles said simply, shrugging as he moved over to a chair at the dining room table. It was only now that he could smell something in the oven. "Derek…are you doing what I think you're doing?" he asked as he looked between the oven and Derek.

"If you mean cooking dinner for you and me, then yes, I would have made more but I wasn't expecting anyone else today." Derek said as he went over to the stove and pulled out the barbequed chicken he had in there along with the brownies under that. "There might be enough, but I'll have to fix more later." Derek added as he began dishing it all out.

"I'll be fine with a glass of water; my parents will want to make sure I have dinner with them. Must say Stiles that is certainly a very direct solution to the issue, if a bit extreme, have you considered any other options?" Jay asked as he eyed the High Priest.

"I'm going with my gut on this, the Hunter's Moon is coming up, it feels the best time to call the hunt, it also feels like it would be the most effective at genuinely cleaning this area up, and maybe leave it clear for a while after." Stiles said as Derek began to set plates in front of everyone except Jay who he left with a glass of ice cold water. "And I know most of us could use a break from the insanity." he added looking over at Scott.

"Lacking in subtlety, but then you are only human." Jay said with a soft shrug. "I do like the overall plan of this though, also keeps the courts from being at each other's throats." Jay added with a soft sigh. "You've no doubt noted Mrs. Lake's response to my presence at the school?" Jay asked as he looked the younger wolves over. "This is because winter and summer really don't get along, and in fact both have been actively seeking a way to start a war to gain dominance over the other. Calling the hunt would force them to work together and might actually draw out those rogue elements in either court that are interested in upsetting the natural balance." Jay added. "My family, we like that balance, keeps us happy, keeps us safe, it's more the harsher ones that want to gain power. Even in the case of the fae you get your nutjobs, and believe me, I like them as much as you do." Jay added before Matt made his way forward.

"That chicken smells really good, and I saw what this guy is planning to eat, please don't make me have to deal with that." Matt said as he inwardly cringed at the sight of the meal planned for Jay that evening.

"And we owe you anything why?" Derek asked, recognizing the voice as that of the psychotic former classmate of Stiles and Scott who nearly got him killed.

"I think dying is punishment enough for almost killing you." Matt retorted only to get a glare from Derek.

"It would have if you'd stayed that way you homicidal piece of…" Derek added as he stalked forward only to be stopped by Stiles as he held a hand out to press into Derek's chest.

"Aw, how precious, you two did get together." Matt added as Jay's head tilted slightly. "Told you two you were cute together." he added looking hungrily at the food on the table.

"Stiles, if I give you permission to kill Peter do I have permission to kill that guy once your new friend lets him loose?" Derek asked looking dead into Jay's eyes the younger figure immediately shrinking back a little..

"Derek, babe, we need him alive for now." Stiles said as he pulled him down to look at him. "Besides I think being forced to eat whatever it is that's making him want to avoid it like the plague will be worse than just killing him again." Stiles said as he rubbed Derek's back. "Matt, maybe you can have what my mate cooks once you prove you're not a cold heartless psychopathic killer, though considering you've already killed some people already, yeah it's not looking good for you." Stiles added turning to look at Jay.

Matt just looked glumly through Jay's eyes at Stiles a moment longer before his sight faded to be replaced by Jay's again, the fae in question speaking up. "You really should take it easy on the poor guy, he really won't be getting much and heaven knows he didn't have a good final meal." Jay said easily tapping into Matt's memories. "I want you to know that thought he's not sorry for what he did yet, it won't take long until he realizes he should." Jay added as he got up from his seat, downing the water before heading to the door.

"I have little doubt on that." Stiles said as he and the wolves began to eat up. "And let Matt know that once he can feel anything other than pissed off, he can enjoy whatever winter court cuisine has to offer, I'm half tempted to…ah screw it, he can have his frozen TV dinner tonight." Stiles added getting a few facepalms from the wolves and a sigh from Derek. "Yeah not gonna lie that one was far from my best." Stiles added before shrugging.

"No, no it really wasn't." Scott groaned as he kept eating, hoping the taste of the food would remove the horrible taste that joke had left behind. The twins seemed to certainly enjoy their share and Derek joined in once Jay had left to Stiles' enjoyment.

Once they had all had enough to eat the twins and Scott made their ways home thanking Derek for the food and Stiles for the hospitality before leaving the two alone in the house for the first time in a while. Derek got up and began washing the dishes until he was interrupted by Stiles' hands moving around in front of him and wrapping around his midsection.

"I still owe you a back rub." Stiles said as he turned Derek around to face him. "And as we have the house to ourselves, I fully intend to make good on that." he added before he led them up to his room.


End file.
